蚊子也善良！

南國的秋天還是像夏日一樣炎熱，耳邊不時還會響起煩人的嗡嗡聲——多么希望這只是幻聽啊囧～估計大多數人都會像Rico一樣對蚊子深惡痛絕，實在想不出喜歡它們的理由。然而世界上“奇人異事”還真多，瞧，以下就是一例——

Food scares and bugs can disrupt a good picnic. This is the time of year when many of us find ourselves spending time， and not because we want to， with certain

very 1)irritating buzzy little 2)critters – mosquitoes.

Nobody likes mosquitoes; nobody except， perhaps， other mosquitoes， and， well， one guy that talked to our science 3)correspondent， Robert Krulwich.

Krulwich: Yes， they are irritating; very， very irritating. There’re so many of them carrying God-knows-what diseases.

Quamman: Well， there’s a whole list of diseases they， they transmit. They can transmit 4)Malaria， 5)Yellow Fever， 6)Dengue， 7)Encephalitis…

Krulwich: 8)Filariasis.

Quamman: Filariasis.

Krulwich: And so I asked David Quamman， a well-known science writer， who’s well aware of the

suffering the mosquitoes can cause， “Is there anything nice that we can say about mosquitoes? Anything at all?” And David is a very kind guy.

Quamman: I was sitting in the backyard this

morning， and a mosquito came flying by， and I found that I didn’t have the heart to 9)swat her. I 10)shooed her away and she came back about four time[s]. Just didn’t have it in me to 11)squash her.

Krulwich: Because， as it happens， in an essay he wrote more than 20 years ago， David proposed three nice things to say about mosquitoes – things I did not know， like –

Quamman: 50% of all mosquitoes that are flying around are completely harmless.

Krulwich: Because 50% of all mosquitoes are guys. And says David –

Quamman: My understanding is that the guys don’t bite.

Krulwich: So every time you go… (sound of a swat) you’re slapping a lady?

Quamman: Almost certainly. Because the male mosquito has no reason 12)whatsoever to land on you.

Krulwich: Well， then， but who do the male

mosquitoes land on? Is it flowers注?

Quamman: They’re， no， they’re do…the guys are doing what guys do. They’re looking for females.

Krulwich: Unh huh.

Quamman: They’re looking for sex. And the

females – yes， they want sex， but they also want blood.

Krulwich: And they want blood because mosquitoes are wonderful mommies. They need 13)protein to feed their babies. And how many babies do they feed?

Quamman: Oh， let’s see. I think 200…roughly 200 in a 14)clutch， and in the course of a reasonable

summer I think that they can produce about 10

clutches， about 2，000.

Krulwich: 2，000 babies. So that means you have to have a lot of protein if you’re going to build 2，000 babies.

Quamman: Yeah.

Krulwich: Which is why lady mosquitoes are so good at finding warm 15)mammals to feed on. How they do it， nobody’s sure， but one guess is they can sense body heat. Which brings us to an old Italian folktale.

Quamman: That， if you slept with a pig in the bedroom， it would offer you some protection against mosquitoes. And the reason for that， I think， was that the pig was operating at a higher body temperature， say 101 or 102 degrees 16)Fahrenheit instead of 98.6.

Krulwich: So the mosquito then 17)zips right by you and heads right for the pig.

Quamman: Yes， that apparently was the concept.

(Krulwich laughs.) Now…now we have mosquito nets and screened windows.

Krulwich: The point is， they’re so good at finding warm

bodies they’ve been biting us for hundreds of thousands of years， which leads to， perhaps，

their single greatest achievement， says David.

Quamman: So， when we emerged as a species and then started moving around， we 18)plowed the fields and cut down the trees and created cities and

agricultural landscapes…

Krulwich: But the hot， wet， 19)equatorial rainforests that are still host to more species and more variety of life than any other places on Earth. Humans mostly avoided those places， because， if you entered a rainforest， chances are you’d get bit and then you’d get sick.

Quamman: By way of Malaria and Dengue and

Yellow Fever and some of these other diseases that

I’ve mentioned.

Krulwich: So， while most 20)habitats have been

invaded by humans， when it comes to 21)tropical

rainforests…

Quamman: We didn’t do that. Why didn’t we? Well， one of the reasons， I’m convinced， is that mosquitoes were there， standing guard， making those places…

Krulwich: Safe for…

Quamman: Difficult…

Krulwich: ...All the butterflies and the bugs and the lovely leaves. I can hear the music now， building in the background.

Quamman: There it is. I can hear it too.

Krulwich: 22)Hail the lady mosquito! Fiercely

protecting beetles and 23)orchids， 24)ferns， butterflies， biting mankind to save the last true wildernesses on Earth. Nature’s hero， the lady mosquito! We thank you!

Krulwich: So， 1) the boys don’t bite; 2) the ladies

make great mommies， great providers; and 3)

mosquitoes defend the Earth’s rainforests. That’s your essential argument.

Quamman: That’s my essential argument. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

食物恐懼和蟲子都能毀掉一次美好的野餐。每年這個時候，我們都會發現自己花時間——不情不愿地與某些非常非常讓人厭煩的、嗡嗡叫的小家伙——蚊子在一起。沒有人喜歡蚊子；沒有人，也許除了其它蚊子以及以下這位正與我們的科學記者羅伯特·克羅爾威茲聊天的仁兄。

克羅爾威茲：是的，它們讓人生厭，非常非常討厭。它們數不勝數，攜帶著只有老天才曉得的各種病菌。

奎曼：呃，它們能傳播的疾病確實有一大串。它們可以傳播瘧疾、黃熱病、登革熱、腦炎，還有……

克羅爾威茲：絲蟲病。

奎曼：絲蟲病。

克羅爾威茲：大衛·奎曼是一位著名的科學作家，他對由蚊子引起的病痛了如指掌。我問他：“蚊子到底有沒有值得贊揚的地方呢？有可能有嗎？”而大衛是一個非常善良的人。

奎曼：今天早上，我坐在后院里，一只蚊子飛了過來，我發現自己不忍心一掌將它拍死。于是我把它噓走了，它后來大概又飛回來四次。我就是沒想過要把它拍死。

克羅爾威茲：因為事情是這樣的， 20年前他寫了一篇文章，其中提出了蚊子的三個優點——這都是一些我不知道的事情，比如——

奎曼：在四周飛舞的蚊子當中，50%是無害的。

克羅爾威茲：因為這50%的蚊子是雄性。大衛接著補充道——