南方的朋友或許會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，今年夏天的蚊子少了很多。越撓越癢的蚊子包，惹人心煩的嗡嗡聲出現(xiàn)的頻率都不及往年。早早準(zhǔn)備好的蚊香和花露水似乎少了很多用武之地。有人不免發(fā)出疑惑：難道......連蚊子都要被熱死了？

沒(méi)錯(cuò)，但不是蚊子本蚊被熱死，而是蚊子的孩子被熱死了！

Have you noticed fewer itchy, red bumps on your skin this summer? It's probably due to the hot, dry weather this summer.

蚊子是怎么被“熱死”的

蚊子的繁殖也得靠天時(shí)地利，而高溫導(dǎo)致池沼、水溝等靜水大量干涸，蚊子失去了產(chǎn)卵圣地，被紛紛“扼殺在搖籃里”。

The right amount of rain at the right time is needed for mosquitoes to breed because it lays eggs on the surface of stagnant water.

即使成功“茍活”下來(lái)，在高溫環(huán)境下長(zhǎng)大的蚊子，雖然發(fā)育速度更快，但成蟲體型更小，繁殖能力也更低，難以“傳宗接代”。

Individuals reared at higher temperatures may develop more rapidly compared to lower temperatures, but adults tend to be smaller with reduced fitness given that size is often positively related to fecundity.

此外，高溫還會(huì)降低成年蚊子的活躍程度。就像人們知道躲進(jìn)空調(diào)房，蚊子也知道飛去陰涼處，不會(huì)在烈日炎炎的時(shí)候出來(lái)自討苦吃。

As temperatures climb higher, mosquito activity can decline. Mosquitoes will bite less when it becomes excessively hot.

先別急著慶幸

要慶祝蚊子滅絕還為時(shí)過(guò)早。頑強(qiáng)的害蟲不會(huì)坐以待斃，既然南方太熱，那就去北方避暑！

許多蚊子原本生活在東南亞國(guó)家，經(jīng)過(guò)海上貿(mào)易傳到我國(guó)，主要在廣東、廣西和云南活動(dòng)。近年來(lái)，高溫席卷南方，蚊子也來(lái)到了北方“避暑”。

危害性更強(qiáng)的是，雖然高溫不利于蚊子生存，卻有利于蚊子攜帶的病毒傳播。只要一息尚存，高溫之后的涼爽期，很可能就成了蚊子傳播疾病的最佳時(shí)機(jī)。

Higher temperatures also make any diseases they carry more active and hence more transmissible. So when mosquitoes are around, a cool spell following very hot temperatures could be ripe for mosquito borne diseases, as highly infectious mosquitoes increase their biting activity.

主要有三類蚊子會(huì)傳播疾病：庫(kù)蚊（Culex）、伊蚊（Aedes）和按蚊（Anopheles），傳播的疾病包括瘧疾（malaria）、絲蟲?。╢ilariasis）、和登革熱（dengue）等。

高溫對(duì)其他昆蟲的影響

蚊子銳減可謂太快人心，但如果是對(duì)人類有益的昆蟲受到影響，那就另當(dāng)別論了。

最近連月高溫，許多歐洲國(guó)家出現(xiàn)蜜蜂連續(xù)死亡，而且死去的大部分是雄蜂。雄蜂對(duì)溫度十分敏感，高溫的壓力下，雄蜂的自然反應(yīng)是射精，然后死去。

Beekeepers in European reported unusual deaths of honeybee queens, drones and small colonies. Drones, which are the reproductive males, spontaneously ejaculate when they die from stress.

就算雄蜂熬過(guò)了高溫，生育能力也會(huì)受損。等到熱浪過(guò)去，蜂后與雄蜂的交配機(jī)會(huì)減少，可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致整個(gè)蜂群的崩潰。依賴蜜蜂授粉的植物也會(huì)遭殃，其中有不少是人類賴以生存的農(nóng)作物。

Worryingly, male fertility likely begins to decline well before the drones die. This means that after a heat wave, new queens — the reproductive females — will have fewer opportunities to mate. Colonies headed by poorly mated queens are more likely to collapse, and this could pose problems for farmers who rely on honeybees to pollinate their crops.

說(shuō)到底，蚊子變少，也是大自然對(duì)我們敲響的警鐘。如果放任氣候變暖、環(huán)境惡化，終有一天會(huì)波及人類自身。

（來(lái)源：中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)雙語(yǔ)新聞微信  編輯：朱迪齊、實(shí)習(xí)生王安然）