The bug that poops candy - George Zaidan

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: SF Huang

This is Mabel.

這位是梅柏爾。

Mabel is an aphid, a small insect in the same order as cicadas, stink bugs,

梅柏爾是蚜蟲，是和蟬、臭蟲、

床蝨同一目的小蟲子。

and bed bugs.

All these bugs pierce their prey and suck out vital fluids.

這類小蟲會刺穿牠們的獵物， 吸出重要的液體。

Aphids’ prey are plants.

蚜蟲的獵物是植物。

And what aphids are after is buried within the plant,

蚜蟲的目標是埋藏在植物內部，

flowing in tubes made from single cells strung end-to-end.

在單一細胞連結而成的管道中， 從一端流向另一端。

These are called sieve tubes and together they form the plumbing system

這些管道叫做篩管， 合起來便形成了管道系統，

for a plant’s most valuable resource: sap.

運送植物最有價值的資源：液汁。

Sap is mostly water and sugar.

液汁主要由水和糖組成。

Some species’ sap has as much sugar per liter as a can of soda.

有些物種的液汁每公升 含糖量等同於一罐汽水。

Photosynthesis is constantly producing sugar.

光合作用不斷地產製出糖。

You can think of it as a chemical “pump” which generates incredibly high pressure—

可以把它想像成化學「幫浦」， 它會在篩管中產生出

up to 9 times that of a car tire— in the sieve tubes.

非常高的壓力—— 高達汽車胎壓的九倍。

To feed, Mabel uses her stylet, which is a long, flexible needle.

梅柏爾用牠又長又有彈性的 針狀口器來進食。

She slowly worms it into the tissue, between the plant’s cells,

牠緩慢地將口器鑽入組織中， 穿過植物的細胞之間，

until she pierces one of those sieve tubes.

直到刺入其中一條篩管。

Because the sap is under so much pressure,

因為液汁受到的壓力很大，

Mabel doesn’t even have to suck it out of the plant.

梅柏爾甚至不需要將它吸出植物。

牠只要打開牠頭部內的瓣膜，

She just opens a valve in her head and lets the pressure push the sap

讓壓力將液汁打進牠的消化系統中。

through her digestive system.

We’ll come back to what comes out of her butt, but for now,

我們等下再談牠的屁股 會排出什麼，但現在，

you should know that plants don’t want to be punctured and sipped.

你應該知道，植物 並不喜歡被穿刺和啜飲。

So they try to defend themselves.

所以植物會試圖自我防禦。

One defense is the sap itself.

其中一種防禦措施是液汁本身。

To see how that works, let’s hypothetically hook up

為了說明它如何運作， 那我們就假設性地

some other insect’s digestive tract to a steady stream of sap.

將其他昆蟲的消化道連接上 穩定的液汁供應流。

When that sap touches the insect’s cells, its high sugar content

當液汁接觸到昆蟲的細胞， 有很高的糖含量的液汁

encourages the water in the cells to come out by osmosis…

就會促使細胞中的水分 經由滲透作用跑出來……

exactly like salt encourages water to come out of a slug.

就像是鹽巴會促使水分 從蛞蝓體內逼出來一樣。

The more sap that passes through the insect, the more water it loses.

通過昆蟲體內的液汁越多， 牠的水分就會流失地越多。

Eventually, it shrivels up and dies.

最終，昆蟲就會脫水而死。

Mabel’s gut, however, is packed with an enzyme called sucrase,

然而，梅柏爾的腸子中 滿是一種叫做蔗糖酶的酵素，

which takes two molecules of sucrose and converts them into one molecule

它能將兩個蔗糖分子 轉換成為一個果糖分子，

of fructose and one of… this three-unit sugar.

以及一個……這種三單位的糖。

Mabel burns the fructose for energy, leaving the three-unit-sugar behind.

梅柏爾將果糖燃燒產生能量， 不管那三單位的糖。

Now, how does that help her?

那對牠有什麼幫助？

The more molecules of sugar that are dissolved in the sap,

越多糖分子被液汁溶解，

the more water it can suck out of Mabel’s cells.

就會有越多水分 被吸出梅柏爾的細胞。

By reducing the number of molecules of sugar in the sap,

透過減少液汁中糖的分子數，

Mabel reduces its ability to suck water out of her cells.

梅伯爾就能降低它將水分 從牠的細胞中吸出的能力。

Plant sap neutralized.

植物的液汁被中和了。

Now that means Mabel can feed for days, getting all the energy

那就表示，梅伯爾可以進食數天，

取得牠繁殖所必要的所有能量。

she needs to reproduce.

Some aphid species have an incredible life cycle.

有些蚜蟲物種具有 很不可思議的生命循環。

For example, the green peach aphid.

桃蚜就是一例。

During the fall, males and females mate, and the females lay eggs.

雄蟲和雌蟲會在秋天 交配，由雌蟲產卵。

But in the spring, when the eggs hatch, all the nymphs that emerge are female.

但在春天，當卵孵化時， 所有的蛹幼都是雌的。

When those females reach maturity, they don’t lay eggs.

那些雌蟲長大成熟後並不會產卵。

Instead, they give birth to live young… that are clones of themselves…

反之，牠們會直接 生出活的幼蟲……

是牠們自己的複製品……

and already pregnant… with their own clones.

且是已懷有身孕的複製品。

So, these female aphids have two generations of baby aphid clones

所以，這些雌蚜蟲有兩個世代的

蚜蟲寶寶複製品 同時在牠們體內成形。

forming inside themselves at the same time.

Scientists call this telescopic development.

科學家稱之為伸縮式發展。

That means that aphids can make more of themselves fast—

那就表示，蚜蟲可以 很快速地複製自己——

there can be 20 generations within a single season—

單一季就可以產生出 二十個世代——

and that means lots of aphid poop.

也表示會有大量的蚜蟲排泄物。

Mabel can poop her entire body weight every two hours,

每兩小時，梅柏爾就會排出 和牠體重相等的排泄物，

making her one of the most prolific poopers on the planet.

讓牠成為地球上 最會排泄的生物之一。

Some aphid populations can produce hundreds of kilograms of poop per acre.

有些蚜蟲群可以製造出 每英畝數百公斤的排泄物。

Now, aphid poop is not like your poop.

蚜蟲的排泄物和你的排泄物不同。

Chemically, it’s not all that different from sap;

化學上，它和液汁 沒有太大的不同；

it’s a clear and colorless sweet, syrupy liquid.

它是種清澈、無色、 有甜味、糖漿狀的液體。

You might already know it by a different name: honeydew.

你可能聽過它的 另一個名字：甘露。

Other species love honeydew.

其他物種很愛甘露。

Some species of ants love it so much they sort of

有幾種螞蟻愛甘露愛到會聚集起來，

herd and defend entire aphid colonies.

保衛整群蚜蟲。

In return, the ants get a steady supply of sweet honeydew,

這些螞蟻得到的回報就是 穩定的甜甘露供應，

which they can drink directly from the aphids’ butts.

牠們可以直接從蚜蟲的屁股飲用甘露。

Bottom’s up!

乾杯「見底」！

Humans love honeydew, too.

人類也很愛甘露。

Several Native American tribes used to harvest it from tall reeds

以前一些美國原住民部落 會從高蘆葦上採甘露，製成蛋糕。

and make it into cake.

And some species of bee make honey from honeydew,

有幾種蜜蜂會用甘露來做蜂蜜，

which humans then harvest and eat.

而人類會採集蜂蜜來食用。

So plants make the sap, which is eaten and pooped out by aphids,

所以，植物會產生液汁， 蚜蟲會吃它再排泄出來，

regurgitated by bees, harvested by humans,

再由蜜蜂反芻，由人類採集，

and dolloped into a cup of Earl Grey tea.

再加到一杯格雷伯爵茶裡。