The real reason why mosquitoes buzz | DIY Neuroscience, a TED series

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Krystian Aparta

Translator: Nauka N. Prasadini Reviewer: Hafizh Alfarisi

(Dengung nyamuk)

Greg Gage: Kita tahu suara menjengkelkan nyamuk

dan kita tak akan menyerah untuk melenyapkannya.

Meski membuat kita kesal, suara itu bisa jadi musik bagi nyamuk.

Sistem saraf nyamuk hampir sebanyak sel pendengaran sensorik kita.

(Mosquito buzzing)

Greg Gage: We've all heard the annoying sound of a mosquito,

Mengapa sebanyak itu dalam tubuh sekecil itu

and we will stop at nothing to make it go away.

dan mengapa mereka sensitif terhadap suara?

While this sound may be maddening to us,

Jawabannya adalah cinta.

perhaps it's music to a mosquito's ears.

[Swakriya Ilmu Saraf]

The mosquito's nervous system has almost as many sensory auditory cells as we do.

(Musik)

Kita melakukan apa pun untuk saling memikat.

But why would they have so many in such a small body,

Sebagian disadari.

and why would they need to be so sensitive to sounds?

Kita berdandan dan memakai parfum.

Sebagian tidak disadari.

The answer is love.

Kau cenderung mencondongkan tubuh atau duduk di dekat orang yang kau suka.

[DIY Neuroscience]

(Music)

Inilah perilaku menjalin kasih dan banyak hewan melakukannya.

As humans, we do a lot to attract each other.

Some things are conscious --

Begitu pula nyamuk.

Haley menghabiskan musim panasnya untuk mendengarkan nyamuk.

we put on makeup and make sure we smell nice.

And some are unconscious.

Yang dia temukan pun akan mengejutkanmu.

You may unconsciously point your body or even sit closer to someone you like.

Kami hendak mencari tahu bagaimana nyamuk berdengung.

These are courtship behaviors, and a lot of animals have them.

Haley, bagaimana kita merekam kepakan sayap mereka?

And mosquitoes are no different.

Haley Smith: Kita harus mengikatnya.

So Haley's been spending her summer bravely listening to mosquitoes,

Pertama, kita harus membius mereka di dalam kulkas atau atas es.

and what she observed may surprise you.

So we want to investigate how the mosquitoes make their song.

Lalu, kupindahkan mereka ke cawan petri es ini

So Haley, how do we record their wing beats?

supaya mereka semakin terbius.

Haley Smith: We need to tether them.

Berikutnya, kuambil jarum serangga,

First, we anesthetize them in a fridge or a bed of ice.

kemudian kuoleskan sedikit lem super pada pin ini.

And then I transfer them to this petri dish of ice,

Kupastikan posisinya tepat pada dada di atas sayapnya

just to get them even more anesthetized.

Next, I take an insect pin,

agar saat dia ditahan, sayapnya masih bebas bergerak.

Satu sudah selesai.

and what I do is put a tiny little dab of superglue on this pin.

Susah sekali menangkap nyamuk jantan di alam liar

karena hanya betina yang tertarik pada manusia.

I want to make sure that I get it on his thorax above his wings

Mereka minum darah manusia.

so that when he is suspended, his wings are still free to move.

Sekarang, kita bisa merekam mereka.

So here's one down.

It's really hard to catch male mosquitoes in the wild

Ini tiang untuk menahan mereka.

because females are the only mosquitoes that are attracted to humans.

Aku biasa meletakkannya di atas mikrofon

jadi aku bisa mendapat rekaman seperti yang kau dengar.

They feed on human blood.

And now, we can try to get some recordings from them.

Suaranya dihasilkan dari kecepatan kepakan sayap mereka.

Ini yang jantan.

Yang jantan punya antena sangat lebat dan terlihat seperti bulu.

So this is the stand that I use to hold them.

I like to place it right over the microphone

Mereka juga jauh lebih kecil.

so that I can get a recording of the buzzing that you hear.

GG: Dia terbang dengan frekuensi sekitar 600 hertz.

That sound is generated by how fast they're beating their wings.

Mari coba nyamuk lain.

Boleh coba nyamuk betina?

This is a male.

The males have very bushy antennae, and they look kind of feathery.

HS: Boleh, ini dia.

(Dengung nyamuk lebih pelan)

And they are also much smaller.

GG: So he's flying at around 600 hertz.

GG: Wow.

HS: Frekuensinya lebih rendah daripada yang jantan.

Can we try a female mosquito?

GG: Iya, suaranya benar-benar berbeda.

HS: Sure, here we go.

[Jantan] (Dengung nyamuk nyaring)

(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch)

[Betina] (Dengung nyamuk rendah)

Apa ini karena mereka nyamuk yang berbeda atau karena jenis kelamin?

GG: Wow.

HS: This is a much lower frequency than the male.

HS: Karena jenis kelamin.

GG: Yeah, it sounds completely different.

GG: Baiklah, mari kita buktikan.

Bisakah kau ambil betina lain dan dengarkan jika ia

(Mosquito buzzing)

(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch)

seperti nyamuk A atau nyamuk B?

So is it because they're two different mosquitoes,

HS: Tentu.

(Dengung nyamuk pelan)

or because they're male and female?

Dia pun lebih pelan daripada yang jantan.

HS: It's because they're male and female.

GG: Benar, dia terdengar berbeda.

GG: Alright, let's verify that.

(Dengung nyamuk pelan)

Can you bring in another female and see if she sounds

like mosquito A or mosquito B?

HS: Yeah.

Dengungnya tepat di 400 hertz.

(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch)

HS: Tepat sekali. GG: Sungguh ajaib.

And again, she is much lower than the male.

HS: Para betina berdengung lebih rendah.

GG: Yeah, she sounds different.

Mereka berada di sekitar 400 hertz.

(Mosquito buzzing, lower pitch)

Rata-rata betina juga seperti itu.

Mereka lebih besar daripada yang jantan,

jadi mereka tak perlu mengepakkan sayap secepat mungkin agar tetap melayang.

Yeah, she's spot-on 400.

HS: She really is. GG: That's really bizarre.

GG: Mereka bersayap lebih besar sehingga mengepak lebih pelan.

HS: The females are at a much lower pitch. They were around 400 hertz.

GG: Apa para betina berfrekuensi sama? HS: Ya.

HS: And all of the females were around that, too.

GG: Para pejantan juga? HS: Ya.

They were much larger than the males,

GG: Menarik. Pasti berarti sesuatu. HS: Keren.

so they didn't have to flap their wings as fast to stay in free flight.

Mari kita lihat apa jadinya jika kita hadapkan jantan dengan betina.

GG: So they have larger wings, so they're flapping slower.

(Dengung nyamuk dengan nada berbeda)

And you noticed that all the females have the same frequency, roughly?

HS: Saat kutaruh mereka pada satu jarak dengar,

And the males do, too. That's kind of interesting.

kuamati mereka agak mengubah nada masing-masing.

So that must mean something.

Well, let's see what happens when we put the male and the female together.

Bahkan, nyaris terdengar samar.

(Dengung nyamuk)

(Mosquitoes buzzing; pitch varies)

Ketika aku memasukkannya ke spektogram untuk melihat interaksi mereka,

HS: When I put them into the same hearing range,

mereka bertemu pada nada yang sama.

I noticed that they were kind of changing their tones.

GG: Baik, stop dulu.

Nyamuk jantan dan betina sedang berduet.

It was kind of more dull, almost.

Itu berarti mereka menyesuaikan kepakan untuk menghasilkan nada serupa.

(Mosquitoes buzzing)

And when I put it back in my spectrogram to see their interaction,

Yang jantan berdengung di nada G

they were meeting at the same tone.

dan betina jauh di nada D.

GG: OK, pause.

Saat mereka bersama,

The males and females are singing a duet,

katamu mereka menyesuaikan frekuensi kepakan mereka

meaning that they adjust their wings to be able to produce a common tone.

supaya mereka bisa bersama?

You have the male singing up here at G,

HS: Tepat sekali. GG: Dan mereka seperti berduet.

(Kedua nyamuk perlahan saling menyesuaikan nada serupa)

and you have the female singing down here at D,

and when they get together,

you're saying that they change the frequency of their wings

HS: Mereka berkomunikasi agar sama-sama tahu

bahwa mereka menemukan calon pasangannya.

such that they come together?

GG: Dengan kata lain,

HS: Yeah, exactly. GG: And they sort of sing a duet.

betina cenderung memilih pejantan yang paling sesuai dengan duetnya.

(Mosquitoes gradually adjusting to identical pitch)

Studi menemukan bahwa jika ia hamil,

ia pun tidak peduli.

HS: They're communicating to let each other know

Jika kita memahami perilaku kawin nyamuk,

that they've basically found a potential mate.

kita bisa mencegah penyebarannya hingga penyakit seperti malaria.

GG: So in other words,

the female tends to choose a male that best sings her duet.

Namun sekarang, jika kau mendengar dengung nyamuk lagi,

And studies have found that if she's pregnant,

she doesn't even bother.

diam sebentar dan ingat bila ia mungkin sedang jatuh cinta

So if we can understand the mosquito mating behavior,

dan mungkin menyanyikan dengungnya untuk mencari pasangan sempurna.

we may be able to disrupt it in the wild and prevent diseases like malaria.

(Dengung nyamuk)

(Tepakan)

But for now, the next time you hear a mosquito buzzing,

just pause and remember she may be in love

and she may be singing her song,

looking for her perfect match.

(Mosquito buzzing)

(Smack)