Name: 【TED-Ed】這是哪種昆蟲呢？透過口器簡單辨別昆蟲種類 (A simple way to tell insects apart - Anika Hazra)
Uploaded: 2018-12-05T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 4 min 7 s

There are nearly a million  known insect species in the world,

世界上已知的昆蟲有將近一百萬種

but most have one of just  five common types of mouthparts.

And that's extremely useful to scientists

because when they encounter  an unfamiliar insect in the wild,

因為當他們在野外遇到不熟悉的昆蟲

they can learn a lot about it  just by examining how it eats.

他們可以藉由觀察昆蟲怎麼進食獲得許多資訊

is used to organize all  living things into seven levels:

The features of an insect's mouthparts can help identify which order it belongs to,

口器的特徵不只能辨認昆蟲所屬的目

while also providing clues about how  it evolved and what it feeds on.

也透露了昆蟲演化和以何為食的線索

The chewing mouthpart is the most common.

all other mouthparts are thought to have  started out looking like this one

其他類型的口器被認為是以這種口器為原型

before evolving into something different.

It features a pair  of jaws called mandibles

with toothed inner edges that cut up  and crush solid foods,

內側邊緣為鋸齒狀可以切斷和壓碎固體食物

You can find this mouthpart  on ants from the Hymenoptera order,

grasshoppers and crickets  of the Orthoptera order,

鞘翅目的甲蟲身上發現這種咀嚼式口器。

The piercing-sucking mouthpart consists of a long, tube-like structure called a beak.

刺吸式口器有一種長管構造稱為喙

This beak can pierce plant  or animal tissue

It can also secrete saliva  with digestive enzymes

Insects in the Hemiptera order  have piercing-sucking mouthparts

a friendlier version  of the piercing and sucking beak,

also consists of a long, tube-like  structure called a proboscis

that works like a straw  to suck up nectar from flowers.

keep their proboscises rolled up tightly beneath their heads

不吃東西的時候會將吻管緊緊地捲起來

and unfurl them when  they come across some sweet nectar.

With the sponging mouthpart, there's yet another tube,

末端有兩個類似海綿構造的口盤

that contain many finer  tubes called pseudotracheae.

上面有許多稱作假器管的微小管子

The pseudotracheae secrete  enzyme-filled saliva

and soak up fluids  and dissolved foods by capillary action.

藉由毛細作用吸收液體並溶解食醋

and the other non-biting  members of the Diptera order

和雙翅目中其他不會叮咬的昆蟲

are the only insects  that use this technique.

have a piercing-sucking mouthpart  instead of the sponging mouthpart.

And finally, the chewing-lapping mouthpart is a combination of mandibles

and a proboscis with a tongue-like  structure at its tip

the mandibles themselves  are not actually used for eating.

For bees and wasps, members of the Hymenoptera order,

對蜜蜂和土蜂這些膜翅目的昆蟲

they serve instead as tools  for pollen-collecting and wax-molding.

Of course, in nature, there are always  exceptions to the rules.

當然，在大自然中永遠都有例外

The juvenile stages of some insects,  for example,

例如有些昆蟲在幼蟲和成蟲階段

have completely different kinds  of mouths than their adult versions,

like caterpillars, which use chewing  mouthparts to devour leaves

像是毛毛蟲，原本用咀嚼式口器吃樹葉

before metamorphosing into butterflies and moths

Still, mouthpart identification can,  for the most part,

help scientists—and you —categorize insects.

and learn a little more about who's nibbling your vegetable garden,