Marlene Zuk: What we learn from insects’ kinky sex lives

Prevoditelj: Martina Juranic Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

So, people are more afraid of insects than they are of dying.

Ljudi se više boje kukaca nego umiranja.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

At least, according to a 1973 "Book of Lists" survey

Tako barem stoji u knjizi iz 1973. "Book Of Lists",

which preceded all those online best, worst, funniest lists that you see today.

koja je prethodila najboljima, najgorim, najsmiješnijima listama

s kojima se susrećete danas online.

Only heights and public speaking

Samo strah od visine i javnih govora

exceeded the six-legged as sources of fear.

su premašili šesteronožne stvorove kao izvor straha.

And I suspect if you had put spiders in there,

Mislim da kada bi još dodali paukove,

the combinations of insects and spiders would have just topped the chart.

kombinacija paukova i kukaca bi došla na vrh liste.

Now, I am not one of those people.

Ja nisam jedna od tih ljudi.

I really love insects.

Ja zaista volim kukce.

I think they're interesting and beautiful,

Mislim da su zanimljivi i prekrasni,

and sometimes even cute.

a ponekad čak i slatki.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And I'm not alone.

I nisam sama.

For centuries, some of the greatest minds in science,

Stoljećima, najveći znanstveni umovi,

from Charles Darwin to E.O. Wilson,

od Charlesa Darwina do E.O. Wilsona,

have drawn inspiration from studying some of the smallest minds on Earth.

bivali su inspirirani proučavanjem jednih od najmanjih umova na Zemlji.

Well, why is that?

Kako to?

What is that keeps us coming back to insects?

Što nas to tjera da se vraćamo kukcima?

Some of it, of course, is just the sheer magnitude of almost everything about them.

Jedan razlog je količina onoga što znamo o njima.

They're more numerous than any other kind of animal.

Brojniji su od bilo koje druge vrste životinja.

We don't even know how many species of insects there are,

Niti ne znamo koliko vrsta kukaca postoji,

because new ones are being discovered all the time.

zato što nove vrste stalno bivaju otkrivene.

There are at least a million, maybe as many as 10 million.

Najmanje ih je milijun, a možda čak i 10 milijuna.

This means that you could have an insect-of-the-month calendar

To znači da bi mogli imati kalendar s kukcem mjeseca

and not have to reuse a species for over 80,000 years.

i ne ponoviti vrstu 80 000 godina.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Take that, pandas and kittens!

Evo vam, pande i mačići!

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

More seriously, insects are essential.

A sada ozbiljno, kukci su neophodni.

We need them.

Trebamo ih.

It's been estimated that 1 out of every 3 bites of food

Procijenjeno je da jedan od tri zalogaja hrane

is made possible by a pollinator.

dobiven zahvaljujući oprašivačima.

Scientist use insects to make fundamental discoveries

Znanstvenici pomoću kukaca dolaze do velikih otkrića

about everything from the structure of our nervous systems

o svemu, od strukture našeg živčanog sustava

to how our genes and DNA work.

do toga kako naši geni i DNA funkcioniraju.

But what I love most about insects

Ono što ja najviše volim o kukcima

is what they can tell us about our own behavior.

jest da nam mogu reći o našem ponašanju.

Insects seem like they do everything that people do.

Kukci rade sve što rade i ljudi.

They meet, they mate, they fight, they break up.

Upoznaju se, razmnožavaju, tuku, prekidaju veze.

And they do so with what looks like love or animosity.

I čine sve to s onime što izgleda kao ljubav ili mržnja.

But what drives their behaviors is really different than what drives our own,

Ali ono što pokreće njihovo ponašanje je ipak drukčije od onoga što pokreće nas,

and that difference can be really illuminating.

i ta razlika može biti vrlo poučna.

There's nowhere where that's more true

To je najočitije

than when it comes to one of our most consuming interests -- sex.

kad se sve svede na zajednički interes -- seks.

Now, I will maintain. and I think I can defend,

Mislim da mogu dokazati i u potpunosti stojim iza

what may seem like a surprising statement.

tvrdnje koja naizgled može zvučati iznenađujuće.

I think sex in insects is more interesting than sex in people.

Mislim da je seks u kukaca puno zanimljiviji od seksa u ljudi.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And the wild variety that we see

Ta divlja raznolikost koju vidimo u njih

makes us challenge some of our own assumptions

dovodi u pitanje neke od naših pretpostavki

about what it means to be male and female.

što znači biti muško i žensko.

Of course, to start with,

Možemo početi s činjenicom

da puno kukaca uopće ne treba seks da bi imali potomke.

a lot of insects don't need to have sex at all to reproduce.

Female aphids can make little, tiny clones of themselves without ever mating.

Ženke uši mogu napraviti svoje male, sićušne klonove bez parenja.

Virgin birth, right there.

Djevičansko rođenje, baš u njih.

On your rose bushes.

Na vašim grmovima ruža.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

When they do have sex,

Kada zaista imaju seks,

even their sperm is more interesting than human sperm.

čak je i njihova sperma zanimljivija nego ljudska.

There are some kinds of fruit flies

Postoji vrsta voćnih mušica

whose sperm is longer than the male's own body.

čija je sperma duža od tijela mužjaka.

And that's important because the males use their sperm to compete.

To je važno jer mužjaci koriste svoju spermu kako bi se natjecali.

Now, male insects do compete with weapons, like the horns on these beetles.

Mužjaci kukaca se natječu i oružjem, kao što su rogovi ovih tvrdokrilaca.

But they also compete after mating with their sperm.

Ali se isto tako natječu i nakon parenja svojom spermom.

Dragonflies and damselflies have penises that look kind of like Swiss Army knives

Vilinski konjici imaju penise koji izgledaju poput švicarskog noža

with all of the attachments pulled out.

sa svim alatkama izvučenim prema van.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

They use these formidable devices like scoops,

Koriste te alatke kao žlice

to remove the sperm from previous males that the female has mated with.

kako bi uklonili spermu prijašnjih mužjaka s kojima se ženka parila.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

So, what can we learn from this?

I, što možemo naučiti iz toga?

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

All right, it is not a lesson in the sense of us imitating them

U redu, to nije lekcija u smislu da ih trebamo oponašati

or of them setting an example for us to follow.

ili da oni nama trebaju dati primjer koji trebamo slijediti.

Which, given this, is probably just as well.

Što možemo smatrati srećom.

And also, did I mention sexual cannibalism is rampant among insects?

Jesam li spomenula da je seksualni kanabalizam uobičajen među kukcima?

So, no, that's not the point.

Tako da ne, ne radi se o tome.

But what I think insects do,

Ono što ja mislim da kukci rade

is break a lot of the rules that we humans have about the sex roles.

jest da krše mnoga pravila oko spolnih uloga koje mi ljudi imamo.

So, people have this idea that nature dictates kind of a 1950s sitcom version

Ljudi smatraju da priroda zapovijeda verziju sitkoma iz 1950-te godine

of what males and females are like.

kakvi su mužjaci i ženke.

So that males are always supposed to be dominant and aggressive,

Mužjaci su uvijek dominantni i agresivni,

and females are passive and coy.

a ženke pasivne i sramežljive.

But that's just not the case.

Ali to baš nije uvijek tako.

So for example, take katydids,

Uzmimo kao primjer kobilice,

which are relatives of crickets and grasshoppers.

rođaka zrikavca i skakavaca.

The males are very picky about who they mate with,

Mužjaci su vrlo izbirljivi s kime se pare,

because they not only transfer sperm during mating,

zato što ne prenose samo spermu tijekom parenja,

they also give the female something called a nuptial gift.

nego daju ženkama nešto poput svadbenog dara.

You can see two katydids mating in these photos.

Na ovim fotografijama možete vidjeti dvije kobilice koje se pare.

In both panels, the male's the one on the right,

Na obje slike, mužjak je desno,

and that sword-like appendage is the female's egg-laying organ.

a ovaj produžetak nalik maču je ženski organ za lijeganje jaja.

The white blob is the sperm,

Bijela grudica je sperma,

the green blob is the nuptial gift,

a zelena grudica je svadbeni dar,

and the male manufactures this from his own body

koju mužjak proizvodi iz vlastitog tijela

and it's extremely costly to produce.

i energetki je vrlo skupo.

It can weigh up to a third of his body mass.

Može težiti čak i trećinu njegove tjelesne mase.

I will now pause for a moment and let you think about

Zastat ću na trenutak i pustiti vas da razmislite

what it would be like if human men, every time they had sex,

kako bi bilo kad bi muškarac svaki put tijekom seksa

had to produce something that weighed 50, 60, 70 pounds.

trebao proizvesti nešto što teži 20 do 30 kilograma.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Okay, they would not be able to do that very often.

Ok, oni to ne bi mogli napraviti vrlo češto.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And indeed, neither can the katydids.

I također, niti kobilice ne mogu.

And so what that means

is the katydid males are very choosy

To znači da su mužjaci kobilica vrlo izbirljivi

about who they offer these nuptial gifts to.

kome će pokloniti svoj svadbeni dar.

Now, the gift is very nutritious,

Taj dar je vrlo hranjiv

and the female eats it during and after mating.

i ženka ga jede tijekom i nakon parenja.

So, the bigger it is, the better off the male is,

Tako da što je veći dar, bolje za mužjaka

because that means more time for his sperm

jer ima više vremena za njegovu spermu

to drain into her body and fertilize her eggs.

da uđe u njeno tijelo i oplodi njena jajašca.

But it also means that the males are very passive about mating,

Ali to isto tako znači da su mužjaci vrlo pasivni što se tiče parenja,

whereas the females are extremely aggressive and competitive,

dok su ženke vrlo agresivne i kompetitivne,

in an attempt to get as many of these nutritious nuptial gifts as they can.

u pokušajima da dobiju što više tih svadbenih darova.

So, it's not exactly a stereotypical set of rules.

To baš i nije po standardnim pravilima.

Even more generally though,

Općenito,

males are actually not all that important in the lives of a lot of insects.

mužjaci uopće nisu tako važni u životu mnogih kukaca.

In the social insects -- the bees and wasps and ants --

U kukaca koji žive u zajednici -- pčela, osa i mrava --

the individuals that you see every day --

jedinke koje viđate svaki dan --

the ants going back and forth to your sugar bowl,

mravi koji idu u i iz vaše zdjele šećera,

the honey bees that are flitting from flower to flower --

pčele koje lepršaju od cvijeta do cvijeta --

all of those are always female.

sve su to ženke.

People have had a hard time getting their head around that idea for millennia.

Ljudima je to bilo teško prihvatiti tisućljećima.

The ancient Greeks knew that there was a class of bees, the drones,

Drevni Grci su znali da postoji kasta pčela, trutovi,

that are larger than the workers,

koji su mnogo veći nego radilice

although they disapproved of the drones' laziness

i iako nisu odobravali lijenost trutova

because they could see that the drones just hang around the hive

jer su primjetili da samo borave u košnici

until the mating flight --

sve do svadbenog leta --

they're the males.

to su mužjaci.

They hang around until the mating flight,

Oni su tamo radi oplodnje,

but they don't participate in gathering nectar or pollen.

ali ne sudjeluju u skupljanju nektara ili peludi.

The Greeks couldn't figure out the drones' sex,

Grci nisu mogli otkriti kojeg su spola trutovi

and part of the confusion was that they were aware of the stinging ability of bees

i jednim dijelom su bili zbunjeni jer su bili svjesni da pčele imaju žalac

but they found it difficult to believe

i nisu mogli vjerovati

that any animals that bore such a weapon could possibly be a female.

da bilo koja životinja koja ima takvo oružje može biti ženka.

Aristotle tried to get involved as well.

Aristotel se također uključio.

He suggested, "OK, if the stinging individuals are going to be the males ..."

Razmišljao je: "U redu, ako su jedinke sa žalcem mužjaci..."

Then he got confused, because that would have meant

Tada se zbunio jer bi to značilo

the males were also taking care of the young in a colony,

da se mužjaci također brinu za mlade u zajednici,

and he seemed to think that would be completely impossible.

a on je smatrao da je to u potpunosti nemoguće.

He then concluded that maybe bees had the organs of both sexes

Tada je zaključio da možda pčele imaju spolne organe oba spola

in the same individual,

u istoj jedinki,

što i nije tako nezamislivo, neke životinje ziasta jesu takve,

which is not that far-fetched, some animals do that,

but he never really did get it figured out.

ali nikada nije to do kraja shvatio.

And you know, even today, my students, for instance,

Čak i danas, moji studenti, na primjer,

call every animal they see, including insects, a male.

zovu svaku životinju koju vide, uključujući kukce, mužjakom.

And when I tell them that the ferocious army-ant soldiers

I kad im kažem da je bijesna vojska mrava

with their giant jaws, used to defend the colony,

sa ogromnim klještima koje koriste za obranu kolonije,

are all always female,

sačinjena od ženki,

they seem to not quite believe me.

kao da mi ne vjeruju u potpunosti.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And certainly all of the movies -- Antz, Bee Movie --

I također svi crtani filmovi -- Mravi, Pčelin film --

portray the main character in the social insects as being male.

prikazuju glavnog lika kukaca kao mužjaka.

Well, what difference does this make?

Kakve veze to ima?

These are movies. They're fiction.

To su crtani filmovi. To je mašta.

They have talking animals in them.

U njima životinje pričaju.

What difference does it make if they talk like Jerry Seinfeld?

Kakve veze ima ako pričaju kao Jerry Seinfeld?

I think it does matter,

Ja mislim da ima veze,

and it's a problem that actually is part of a much deeper one

i da je to dio puno većeg problema

that has implications for medicine and health

koji ima veliki utjecaj u medicini i zdravstvu

and a lot of other aspects of our lives.

i u mnogo drugih aspekata našeg života.

You all know that scientists use what we call model systems,

Znate da znanstvenici koriste, kako ih mi zovemo, modelne organizme,

which are creatures -- white rats or fruit flies --

stvorenja -- bijeli štakori ili vinske mušice --

that are kind of stand-ins for all other animals, including people.

koji služe kao standard za sve druge životinje, uključujući ljude.

And the idea is that what's true for a person

Ideja je da ono što važi za čovjeka

will also be true for the white rat.

će također važiti i za bijelog štakora.

And by and large, that turns out to be the case.

Uglavnom, to i jest slučaj.

But you can take the idea of a model system too far.

Ali ta ideja modelnih organizma može otići i predaleko.

And what I think we've done,

Ono što mislim da smo napravili

is use males, in any species, as though they are the model system.

je upotrebljavanje mužjaka bilo koje vrste kao da su oni sami modelni organizam.

The norm.

Norma.

The way things are supposed to be.

Kako stvari trebaju biti.

And females as a kind of variant --

A ženke su varijanta --

something special that you only study after you get the basics down.

nešto specijalno što se proučava kada se ovlada temeljima.

And so, back to the insects.

I tako se vraćamo na kukce.

I think what that means

Mislim da ono što to znači

is that people just couldn't see what was in front of them.

jest da ljudi ne vide ono što im je ispred nosa.

Because they assumed that the world's stage was largely occupied by male players

Zato što su pretpostavili da je svjetska scena većinom popunjena muškim igračima

and females would only have minor, walk-on roles.

a ženke imaju manje, usputne uloge.

But when we do that, we really miss out on a lot of what nature is like.

Ali kada to činimo, propuštamo puno toga o tome kakva je priroda.

And we can also miss out on the way natural, living things, including people,

Također propuštamo koliko se prirodna i živuća bića, uključujući ljude,

can vary.

mogu razlikovati.

To je razlog zašto su mužjaci korišteni kao modeli u mnogim medicinskim

And I think that's why we've used males as models in a lot of medical research,

istraživanjima za što sada znamo da je problem,

something that we know now to be a problem

if we want the results to apply to both men and women.

ako želimo da su rezultati primjenjivi i na muškarce i žene.

Well, the last thing I really love about insects

Zadnja stvar o kukcima koju volim

is something that a lot of people find unnerving about them.

je nešto za što puno ljudi smatra da je obeshrabrujuće o njima.

They have little, tiny brains

Imaju male, sićušne mozgove

with very little cognitive ability, the way we normally think of it.

s vrlo malom konignitvnom moći, kako mi to vidimo.

They have complicated behavior, but they lack complicated brains.

Imaju složeno ponašanje ali nemaju složene mozgove.

And so, we can't just think of them as though they're little people

Na taj način ih ne možemo gledati kao male ljude

because they don't do things the way that we do.

zato što ne rade stvari na način kao i mi.

I really love that it's difficult to anthropomorphize insects,

Zaista volim što je teško prikazati kukce čovjekolikima,

to look at them and just think of them like they're little people

da ih se promatra i misli o njima kao malim ljudima

in exoskeletons, with six legs.

sa egzoskeletom i šest nogu.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

Instead, you really have to accept them on their own terms,

Umjesto toga ih treba prihvatiti po njihovim uvjetima,

because insects make us question what's normal and what's natural.

zato što nas kukce navode na pitanja o tome što je normalno i što je prirodno.

Now, you know, people write fiction and talk about parallel universes.

Znate da ljudi pišu fikcije i pričaju o paralelnim svemirima.

They speculate about the supernatural,

Teoretiziraju o nadnaravnom,

maybe the spirits of the departed walking among us.

kako možda duhovi preminulih hodaju među nama.

The allure of another world

Očaranost drugim svjetovima

is something that people say is part of why they want to dabble in the paranormal.

je djelomično razlog zašto ljude žele brbljati o nadnaravnom.

But as far as I'm concerned,

Što se mene tiče,

who needs to be able to see dead people,

kome treba sposobnost da vidi mrtve ljude,

when you can see live insects?

kada može gledati žive kukce?

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)