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

譯者: Sue Chen 審譯者: Helen Mak

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

看來，人們害怕昆蟲，

比害怕死亡還要厲害。

(Laughter)

起碼，根據《排行榜之書》1973年的調查，

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

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

當時仍無今天各樣最佳、 最劣、最滑稽等在綫調查

Only heights and public speaking

衹有高度和公衆演講，

exceeded the six-legged as sources of fear.

比六條腿的東西更令人毛骨悚然。

And I suspect if you had put spiders in there,

我頗信，如果把蜘蛛也考慮在内的話，

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

蜘蛛兼昆蟲一定越占恐懼榜首無疑。

Now, I am not one of those people.

不過，我倒不像他們。

I really love insects.

我喜歡昆蟲。

I think they're interesting and beautiful,

我覺得昆蟲有趣、很美、

and sometimes even cute.

有時甚至很萌。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I'm not alone.

不衹我一個人這樣想哦。

For centuries, some of the greatest minds in science,

許多世紀以來，科學界很多偉大的思想家，

from Charles Darwin to E.O. Wilson,

從達爾文到威爾遜，

都從地球上最微小的心思得到啓發。

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

Well, why is that?

是什麽原因呢？

What is that keeps us coming back to insects?

什麽原因讓人們一再關注昆蟲呢？

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

有些原因來自昆蟲的幾乎每一方面的量度。

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

這些量度比任何其他動物都大。

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

我們甚至還不知道究竟有多少種昆蟲，

because new ones are being discovered all the time.

因爲一直都不斷有新發現。

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

現在知道至少1百萬，也許有1千萬之多。

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

就是說，你可以搞個年曆， 每月介紹一種昆蟲，

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

即使不用重複介紹，也可以夠用80,000年。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Take that, pandas and kittens!

熊貓小貓的，靠邊站吧。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

More seriously, insects are essential.

更重要的是，昆蟲不可缺。

We need them.

我們很需要牠們。

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

據估計，每3口食物中，

is made possible by a pollinator.

有兩口來自授粉昆蟲的工作。

Scientist use insects to make fundamental discoveries

科學家們利用昆蟲得出種種 對事物的根本發現。

about everything from the structure of our nervous systems

從神經系統到基因和DNA是如何工作的等等，

to how our genes and DNA work.

But what I love most about insects

我最喜歡昆蟲的一面是牠們使我們

is what they can tell us about our own behavior.

對自己的行爲有了深刻的理解。

Insects seem like they do everything that people do.

人們做的東西，昆蟲幾乎都做。

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

牠們邂逅、交配、打鬥、分離。

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

而牠們做的方式也摻有 看來像是愛或恨的東西。

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

但是，驅動牠們行徑的和 驅動我們行徑的是不同的東西。

and that difference can be really illuminating.

這種不同能顯耀出很多道理。

There's nowhere where that's more true

而最能説明這個問題的 恰恰是我們最感興趣的 ----

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

性！

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

我將堅持這樣一種意想不到的説法， 並且不是沒有道理的：

what may seem like a surprising statement.

我認爲昆蟲的性行 比人類的性行有意思多啦。

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

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

能看見的五花八門的品種 就足以讓我們質疑

And the wild variety that we see

makes us challenge some of our own assumptions

一向對何謂雌雄的想當然的想法了。

about what it means to be male and female.

Of course, to start with,

自然，首先地，很多昆蟲 根本無需性行就能繁殖。

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.

雌蚜蟲不用交配就能 複製很小很小的自己。

Virgin birth, right there.

處女誕兒，十足無疑地， 就在你家的玫瑰枝上。

On your rose bushes.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

When they do have sex,

而那些有交配行爲的呢？

even their sperm is more interesting than human sperm.

牠們的精子都比人的精子要多姿多彩。

There are some kinds of fruit flies

有種果蠅，其精子比雄蟲自己的身體還要長。

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

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

關鍵是因為雄蟲要用其精子來競技。

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

雄性昆蟲自然有用武器來競鬥的，

例如這些甲殼蟲用雙角。

But they also compete after mating with their sperm.

但是也有在交配之後用其精子來競鬥的。

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

蜻蜓和豆娘蟲的陰莖 跟瑞士小刀一樣，

with all of the attachments pulled out.

都帶各色配件，能拔鞘而出。

(Laughter)

They use these formidable devices like scoops,

牠們用這些攻無不勝的像勺子的器具

能把雌蟲之前與之交配的 雄蟲的精子都刮掉。

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

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So, what can we learn from this?

那麼，從這些我們能學到什麼呢？

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

倒不是說這裡有什麼我們 應該模仿牠們什麼，

or of them setting an example for us to follow.

或者牠們給了個什麼 榜樣我們去跟，

Which, given this, is probably just as well.

幸虧也不需要這樣做。

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

還有，剛才我提到過 昆蟲當中非常流行性吞噬的嗎？

So, no, that's not the point.

我只想說，昆蟲在性行方面

But what I think insects do,

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

打破很多人們自以為是的性別角色的常規。

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

我們人仍持有想法，仍停留在 50年代的電視喜劇裡看到的、

of what males and females are like.

大自然決定男人 / 女人的行為之說。

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

就是，男人永遠是應該強勢、侵犯的，

而女人永遠是被動、羞答答的。

and females are passive and coy.

But that's just not the case.

但事實並不是這樣的。

So for example, take katydids,

拿螽斯來說吧， 牠們是蟋蟀和蚱蜢同類

which are relatives of crickets and grasshoppers.

The males are very picky about who they mate with,

其雄蟲對交配物件非常挑剔，

because they not only transfer sperm during mating,

原因是，交配時牠們不單是移交精子

they also give the female something called a nuptial gift.

牠們還給雌蟲一種叫聘禮的東西。

You can see two katydids mating in these photos.

這圖上看到的是兩隻螽斯在交配

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

兩圖上的雄蟲都是右邊那隻，

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

而那劍狀的附肢是雌蟲的產卵器官。

The white blob is the sperm,

白斑是精子，綠斑就是聘禮，

the green blob is the nuptial gift,

那聘禮是雄蟲用自己的身體 做材料產出來的，

and the male manufactures this from his own body

and it's extremely costly to produce.

成本非常昂貴。

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

其重量高達雄蟲體重的三分一。

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

我且稍息，讓在坐的想想：

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

如果人類的男性每次性交之前

都得先生產一塊 50 、 60 、 70 磅 重的東西，會是什麼情形？

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

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

肯定就是，他們一定不能頻繁性交。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And indeed, neither can the katydids.

事實上，螽斯也不行。

And so what that means

因此就意味著， 螽斯雄蟲非常挑剔，

is the katydid males are very choosy

about who they offer these nuptial gifts to.

不會隨便把聘禮 送給不經挑剔的雌蟲。

Now, the gift is very nutritious,

這聘禮是非常營養豐富的，

and the female eats it during and after mating.

雌蟲在交配當中和之後都會進食之。

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

因此聘禮越大，雄蟲越佔便宜，

because that means more time for his sperm

因為這意味著其精子有更多的時間 灌進雌蟲體內，授精給她的卵子。

to drain into her body and fertilize her eggs.

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

然而，這也等於說雄性在交配方面挺被動的。

whereas the females are extremely aggressive and competitive,

而雌性則極為先聲奪人、各不相讓。

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

一心就為搞到儘量多的 那些營養豐富的聘禮。

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

這情形和一貫的俗規有出入了。

Even more generally though,

一個更普遍的現象是，

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

雄性在很多昆蟲的生活並不是最重要的。

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

在社群類昆蟲裡 --- 蜜蜂、土蜂、螞蟻等

你每天都能見到的那幾種----

the individuals that you see every day --

the ants going back and forth to your sugar bowl,

如在你的糖罐進進出出的螞蟻，

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

花叢中飛來飛去的蜜蜂，

all of those are always female.

這些全都是雌性的。

一千多年來人們都無法 理解這種狀況，

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

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

古代希臘人知道蜜蜂裡 有一綱類，雄峰，比工蜂要大。

that are larger than the workers,

雖然希臘人看不慣雄峰的懶散，

although they disapproved of the drones' laziness

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

牠們總是圍著蜂窩轉， 轉到婚飛為止,

until the mating flight --

they're the males.

人家是雄峰嘛，就乾等到婚飛啦，

They hang around until the mating flight,

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

從來不參與採集花蜜和花粉。

希臘人搞不清楚雄峰的性別，

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

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

部分原因是給一特點弄糊塗了：

就是，明知蜜蜂有螫針能力,

但又難以相信持有如此武器的 竟然會是雌性的動物。

but they found it difficult to believe

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

Aristotle tried to get involved as well.

亞裏斯多德也摻合上了。

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

他猜測： "好吧， 如果帶螫針的是雄的..."

說到這，他也糊塗了，

Then he got confused, because that would have meant

因為照此論下去，那些在蜂群裡 照顧幼蜂的也是雄的啦。

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

and he seemed to think that would be completely impossible.

這讓他認為是完全不可能的事。

然後他就下結論說蜜蜂大概是一身兩性的，

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

in the same individual,

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

雖然這說法不盡荒唐， 因為有些動物的確如此。

but he never really did get it figured out.

但也說明他最後還是沒弄清楚。

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

即便是現在，

我的學生也是每看到一動物， 包括昆蟲，都謂之為雄的。

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

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

當我告訴他們說 那些兇神惡煞的軍蟻，

with their giant jaws, used to defend the colony,

頭鱷碩大、捍衛蟻群的，

are all always female,

全是雌的，

they seem to not quite believe me.

學生們都半信半疑。

(Laughter)

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

加上所有的電影， 螞蟻電影、蜜蜂電影-----

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

裡面的主角都給扮成是雄的。

Well, what difference does this make?

這又怎麽樣啦？ 能說明什麼問題呀？

These are movies. They're fiction.

電影嘛，編的而已。 不就是會說人話的動物嘛。

They have talking animals in them.

就算只只都象傑瑞宋飛地 能說會道，有問題嗎？

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

I think it does matter,

我認為有問題。

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

而且是個根源非常深的問題，

that has implications for medicine and health

是個能影響到我們的醫療、 衛生、生活多方面的問題。

and a lot of other aspects of our lives.

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

各位知道科學家都使用規摹系統，

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

裡面的生物 -- 白鼠 / 果蠅等 -- 是相當於 所有其他動物 (包括人) 的替身來的。

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

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

基本的原理是，符合人的道理 也適用於白鼠身上。

will also be true for the white rat.

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

而大多數時候，結果出來也符合事實。

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

但也有把這個假設用過頭了的時候。

And what I think we've done,

而我認為用過頭了的一點是

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

我們把雄性，任何物種的雄性， 都當成是規摹系統，

The norm.

視雄性為常規，視之為 " 萬事就該如此 " 。

The way things are supposed to be.

And females as a kind of variant --

而雌性呢，則被視為是變異的，特別的，

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

你得先把基本規律定了，才以此研究雌性。

And so, back to the insects.

回到昆蟲這話題上。

I think what that means

我認為人們還沒有搞清楚 眼前到底發生了什麼事情。

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

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

人們假定了佔據世界的 大致上全是雄性，

而雌性的角色只是次要的、跑龍套的而已。

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

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

沿用這種想法的話， 我們會遺漏很多自然界真貌。

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

也會遺漏對自然界、生物 (包括人) 的 如何各異的這方面的認識。

can vary.

正因如此，很多醫療研究 用的都是雄性規摹，

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

something that we know now to be a problem

現在知道問題就來了，

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

研究結果沒法同時 既適用於男性，又適用於女性。

Well, the last thing I really love about insects

我愛昆蟲的最後一點是 很多人會為之驚恐喪膽的。

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

They have little, tiny brains

就是，牠們腦袋很小， 被普遍覺得認識能力低。

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

They have complicated behavior, but they lack complicated brains.

牠們行為複雜，卻不具備複雜的腦袋。

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

因此我們無法當牠們是小人，

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

牠們做事方法並不像人一樣的。

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

讓我喜歡的一點是， 我們很難把昆蟲擬人化，

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

很難看著牠們，然後把牠們 當作是人的外骨骼，帶六足。

in exoskeletons, with six legs.

(Laughter)

反而，你得以牠們的本身 固有的面目來看待牠們。

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

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

昆蟲讓我們的質疑 什麼是常規、什麼是自然的。

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

各位知道，人們喜歡 編寫故事，談論並存世界。

They speculate about the supernatural,

人們揣測超自然的東西，

maybe the spirits of the departed walking among us.

逝者之靈在我們當中徜徉什麼的。

The allure of another world

異域世界的魅力源自

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

我們都想 試試非自然到底是怎麽回事。

But as far as I'm concerned,

而我卻認為，

who needs to be able to see dead people,

完全毋需穿視死人的能力，

when you can see live insects?

能目睹活生生的昆蟲就夠了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）