當(dāng)蜜蜂被困在水里時(shí)，它們會(huì)自己制造波浪，然后“沖浪”到安全的地方

當(dāng)蜜蜂被困在水里時(shí)，它們會(huì)自己制造波浪，然后“沖浪”到安全的地方

Bees need water just like the rest of us. A honeybee might fly several miles to find a good water source, both for drinking and to help regulate the temperature of her hive. Sometimes, though, a thirsty honeybee gets more than she bargained for, and instead of water ending up in the bee, the bee ends up in the water.

蜜蜂和我們一樣需要水。一只蜜蜂可能會(huì)飛幾英里去尋找一個(gè)好的水源，既可以用來(lái)喝水，也可以用來(lái)調(diào)節(jié)蜂房的溫度。然而，有時(shí)，一只口渴的蜜蜂得到的東西比它預(yù)料的要多，蜜蜂最終不是喝到水，而是落入水中。

Honeybees can't fly with water on their wings, but they can generate tiny waves and 'surf' on them. (Photo: Wattlebird/Shutterstock)

That's worse for the bee than it might sound. Honeybees can't swim, and when their wings are wet, they can't fly, either. But as a new study reveals, honeybees do have another, less obvious option to save themselves from drowning: surfing.

這對(duì)蜜蜂來(lái)說(shuō)比聽(tīng)起來(lái)更糟糕。蜜蜂不會(huì)游泳，當(dāng)它們的翅膀變濕以后，它們也不能飛了。但一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，蜜蜂還有另一個(gè)不太明顯的選擇來(lái)拯救自己:沖浪。

This discovery started with a lucky accident. As research engineer Chris Roh was walking through the California Institute of Technology campus, he passed by Caltech's Millikan Pond, which was still because the fountain had been turned off. Roh saw a honeybee stranded in the water, and since it was midday, the sun cast shadows of the bee directly onto the bottom of the pool. What really caught his eye, though, were the shadows of the waves created by the bee's wings.

這個(gè)發(fā)現(xiàn)始于一次幸運(yùn)的意外。當(dāng)研究工程師克里斯·盧走過(guò)加州理工學(xué)院的校園時(shí)，他經(jīng)過(guò)加州理工學(xué)院的米利肯池塘，那是因?yàn)閲娙呀?jīng)關(guān)閉。盧武鉉看到一只蜜蜂擱淺在水里，因?yàn)槭侵形?，太?yáng)把蜜蜂的影子直接投射到池底。然而，真正引起他注意的是蜜蜂翅膀所產(chǎn)生的波浪的陰影。

As the bee buzzed in the water, Roh realized the shadows showed the amplitude of the waves kicked up by its wings, along with the interference pattern created as waves from one wing collided with waves from the other.

當(dāng)蜜蜂在水中嗡嗡作響時(shí)，盧武鉉意識(shí)到陰影顯示了它翅膀激起的波浪的振幅，以及一個(gè)翅膀的波浪與另一個(gè)翅膀的波浪相撞時(shí)產(chǎn)生的干涉圖案。

Back in the lab, Roh recreated the conditions he'd seen in Millikan Pond. With his advisor, Caltech aeronautic and bioengineering professor Morteza Gharib, he placed a single bee in a pan of still water, then shone filtered light on it from above, casting shadows on the bottom of the pan. They did this with 33 individual bees, but only for a few minutes at a time, and then gave each bee time to recover afterward.

回到實(shí)驗(yàn)室，盧武鉉重現(xiàn)了他在米利肯池塘看到的情況。他和他的導(dǎo)師，加州理工學(xué)院航空和生物工程教授Morteza Gharib一起，把一只蜜蜂放在一鍋平靜的水中，然后從上面用濾過(guò)的光照射它，在平底鍋的底部投下陰影。他們對(duì)33只蜜蜂進(jìn)行了實(shí)驗(yàn)，但每次只進(jìn)行幾分鐘，然后給每只蜜蜂恢復(fù)的時(shí)間。

Surfing to survive

沖浪生存

Hydrofoiling can't lift a bee out of the water, but it can propel her to the water's edge, where she then climbs to safety. (Photo: Chris Roh and Mory Gharib/Caltech)

Instead of flapping flatly, honeybee wings curve downward as they push into water, then curve upward as they pull back to the surface. The pulling motion generates thrust, the researchers explain, while the pushing motion is a recovery stroke.

蜜蜂的翅膀不是平拍動(dòng)的，而是在入水時(shí)向下彎曲，再拉回水面時(shí)向上彎曲。研究人員解釋說(shuō)，拉的動(dòng)作產(chǎn)生推力，而推的動(dòng)作是恢復(fù)動(dòng)作。

"Water is three orders of magnitude heavier than air, which is why it traps bees," Roh explains. "But that weight is what also makes it useful for propulsion."

盧武鉉解釋說(shuō):“水比空氣重三個(gè)數(shù)量級(jí)，這就是為什么它能困住蜜蜂。”“但重量也使它有助于推進(jìn)。”

Honeybees store water in their honey stomachs and take it back to their hive. (Photo: UrbanRadim/Shutterstock)

There are some limitations to this technique, since the bees apparently can't generate enough force to lift their bodies out of the water. It can propel them forward instead of just flailing in place, though, which might be enough to reach the water's edge, where they can then crawl out and fly away. But the behavior is more tiring for bees than flying, and Roh estimates they can only keep it up for about 10 minutes before wearing out, so the opportunity to escape may be limited.

這項(xiàng)技術(shù)有一些限制，因?yàn)槊鄯滹@然不能產(chǎn)生足夠的力量把它們的身體從水里舉起來(lái)。它可以推動(dòng)它們前進(jìn)，而不是原地亂飛，這可能足以到達(dá)水邊，然后它們可以爬出來(lái)飛走。但這種行為對(duì)蜜蜂來(lái)說(shuō)比飛行更累人，盧武鉉估計(jì)，它們只能堅(jiān)持10分鐘左右，然后就會(huì)累壞，所以逃跑的機(jī)會(huì)可能有限。

This behavior has never been documented in other insects, Roh adds, and it might be a unique adaptation in bees. This study focused on honeybees, but future research could investigate whether it's also used by other bee species, or possibly even other winged insects. Anything that helps us better understand bees is likely worth the effort, given the ecological importance of bees and their widespread declines in recent years — a problem plaguing many wild species as well as honeybees.

盧武鉉補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，這種行為在其他昆蟲(chóng)中從未被記錄過(guò)，這可能是蜜蜂特有的適應(yīng)性。這項(xiàng)研究的重點(diǎn)是蜜蜂，但未來(lái)的研究可能會(huì)調(diào)查它是否也被其他蜜蜂物種，甚至可能是其他有翼昆蟲(chóng)使用。任何有助于我們更好地了解蜜蜂的方法都是值得努力的，因?yàn)槊鄯渚哂兄匾纳鷳B(tài)價(jià)值，而且近年來(lái)它們的數(shù)量普遍減少——這個(gè)問(wèn)題困擾著許多野生物種和蜜蜂。

As engineers, Roh and Gharib also see this discovery as an opportunity for biomimicry, and they've already begun applying it to their robotics research, according to a news release from Caltech. They're developing a small robot that can move on the surface of water like a stranded honeybee, and they envision the technique eventually being used by robots that can fly and swim.

作為工程師，盧武鉉和加里布也將這一發(fā)現(xiàn)視為生物模擬技術(shù)的機(jī)遇，他們已經(jīng)開(kāi)始將其應(yīng)用到機(jī)器人研究中。他們正在開(kāi)發(fā)一種小型機(jī)器人，它可以像擱淺的蜜蜂一樣在水面上移動(dòng)，他們?cè)O(shè)想這項(xiàng)技術(shù)最終會(huì)被飛行和游泳的機(jī)器人使用。