時差N小時:蜜蜂也吃肉?

I guess you never heard of Trigona hypogea, a SouthAmericanbee that not only collects meat from animalcarcasses, but has more recently been discovered tohave a taste for live prey as well.

你也許從未聽過一種南美洲的蜜蜂，它們不僅吃動物尸體，而且最近科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn)它們還喜歡吃活的動物。

Scientists have seen the bees swiftly raid recentlyabandoned wasp nests, carrying off waspeggs,larvae, and pupae until the nest is empty.

蜜蜂迅速地襲擊被遺棄的蜂窩，拿走蜂卵，幼蟲和蛹，把蜂巢搬空。

They've observed the bees collecting toad eggs too.

科學(xué)家們觀察發(fā)現(xiàn)蜜蜂還會收集蟾蜍卵。

All developing, young bees need protein.

所有的小蜜蜂都需要蛋白質(zhì)。

Pollen is actually very rich in protein.

花粉蛋白質(zhì)含量很高。

The adults of most bee species feed predominantly on nectar and save the pollen for theiryounger colony members.

大多數(shù)的成年蜜蜂主要以花蜜為生，并且將花粉留給幼蜂。

These South American bees simply require a different source of protein.

這些南美蜜蜂只是需要不同的蛋白質(zhì)出處。

Their anatomy reflects their different eating habits.

解剖學(xué)反應(yīng)出它們不同的飲食習(xí)慣。

The leg modifications that enable most bee species to transport pollen are largelydiminished on these bees.

蜜蜂腿上那些能幫助它們運輸花粉的裝飾物在這些南美洲蜜蜂上大部分已經(jīng)消失了。

Their mouth parts are sharper, sort of tooth-like.

它們的口器變得更鋒利，有點像牙齒。

The bees prepare the meat for later consumption by the younger members of the colony bychewing it and then mixing it with sugary liquids, perhaps collected from fruit.

蜜蜂為幼蜂準(zhǔn)備的肉是通過咀嚼，然后將肉與含糖的液體，大概是從水果中提取的。

Microbes break the mixture down into a viscous goo, which delivers important nutrients to theyoung bees.

微生物將混合物分解成一種粘稠物，這種粘稠物將重要的營養(yǎng)輸送給幼蜂。