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Wasps seem to be best known for stinging people, ruining picnics, and generally being jerks.
黄蜂好像是以叮人、破坏野餐著称，通常就是个小混蛋。
But believe it or not, our lives are actually a lot better because of them.
但是不管大家信不信，我们的生活其实因它们而更加美好。
Wasps are nuisance bugs, but they kill lots of other nuisance bugs and are important pollinators.
黄蜂是讨人厌的虫子，但它们能杀死很多其他讨厌的虫子，也是重要的传粉者。
And scientists even think that certain compounds in wasp venom could be used as cancer therapies or antimicrobials.
科学家们甚至认为黄蜂中的某种化合物质可用作癌症疗法或抗菌剂。
So while you might have daydreamed of humans wiping out every wasp on the planet, it would actually be a pretty terrible idea.
虽然你或许梦想着人类可以消灭星球上的每只黄蜂，但这将是一个相当糟糕的想法。
First, even though wasps may seem like pests themselves, they're actually important pest control agents,
首先，虽然黄蜂本身看起来像是害虫，但它们其实是重要的害虫防治药剂，
taking out other insects that are harmful to forests or crops.
能够除掉其他对森林或农作物有害的昆虫。
Take yellow jackets — the group you probably think of when you hear the word wasp.
以小黄蜂为例—当你听到黄蜂这个词时，你想到的或许就是它们。
Although these guys will try to steal a taste of your sugary soft drink or fruit, they also collect lots of insects to feed to their larvae.
虽然这些家伙会偷尝一口你的饮料或水果，但它们也会收集很多昆虫以喂养自己的幼虫。
And predatory wasps like yellow jackets make up just a tiny fraction of specie of wasp.
像小黄蜂这样的捕食性黄蜂仅仅只是黄蜂种群中的一小部分。
In fact, most wasps — maybe as many as 2 million species of them — are parasitoid wasps.
事实上，大部分黄蜂—可能有两百万种—都是拟寄生黄蜂。
And they have a whole different way of taking down insects.
它们有着完全不同的消灭昆虫的方法。
Parasitoids use special venom to paralyze or zombie-fy other bugs, then lay their eggs on or inside the unfortunate host.
拟寄生物利用特殊毒液麻痹或僵化其他虫子，然后将它们的卵产在倒霉寄主的身上或体内。
The host is then slowly eaten alive. And while this is pretty gruesome, it's also helpful for farmers.
然后寄主被慢慢活吃掉。虽然听起来很可怕，但对农民很有帮助。
Parasitoid wasps help control crop-destroying pests like aphids and caterpillars.
拟寄生黄蜂帮助控制破坏农作物的害虫，比如蚜虫类和毛毛虫。
In fact, one genus — called Trichogramma — is an essential biocontrol agent.
事实上，一种被称为赤眼蜂的种类是一种必不可少的生物防治剂。
Worldwide, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of crops and forests are treated with these wasps to control pests.
世界上有成百上千平方公里的农作物和森林都有这些黄蜂控制害虫。
And that translates to a lot of harmful insects.
翻译过来就是很多很多有害的昆虫。
So the next time you're able to stock up on fresh produce at the grocery store, you might have a wasp to thank.
所以下一次在杂货店里置办新鲜食品时，你或许应该感谢黄蜂。
Besides defending them from insects, wasps are also important pollinators for certain plants,
除了防御昆虫外，黄蜂也是某些植物的重要传粉者，
although the way they do it is often a bit weird.
虽然它们传播花粉的方式有点奇怪。
For example, some species of orchids actually trick male wasps into pollinating them by looking like a hot female wasp.
例如，一些种类的兰花会将自己伪装成一只热辣的雌性黄蜂引诱雄性黄蜂给它们授粉。
And the relationship wasps have with figs is even weirder, but arguably even more important.
黄蜂和无花果的关系甚至更加奇怪，但是可能也更重要。
Figs have flowers that grow inside a mostly-enclosed shell called the syconium, and they can't be pollinated by the wind or by most insects.
无花果的花朵生长在几乎封闭的壳里，这个壳被称为隐头花序，并且它们无法通过风或多数昆虫授粉。
Instead, they usually have to be pollinated by a specific group of wasp species.
相反，它们通常不得不被一种种类的黄蜂授粉。
First, the female wasp lays her eggs inside the flowers, then dies in the syconium.
首先，雌性黄蜂在花朵内产卵，然后死在隐头花序中。
When the new wasps hatch, they stick around, grow up, and eventually mate inside the fig plant.
当新的黄蜂孵化时，它们逗留在此，成长并最终在无花果里交配。
And yes, they are siblings - which can lead to problems, but generally works out okay.
没错，它们是兄弟姐妹—这可能会造成一些问题，但通常还是行得通的。
After mating, the blind, flightless males chew a hole in the plant so that the females can escape.
交配后，这些目盲、不能飞行的雄性会将植物咀嚼出一个洞好让雌性逃走。
Then, the females take pollen from the fig flowers and go in search of another fig tree with another syconium.
然后，这些雌黄蜂将无花果花朵的花粉带走，寻找另一个带有隐头花序的另一朵无花果。
And the process starts all over again. This is a mutually beneficial relationship for both the insects and the trees.
然后整个过程再重复一遍。这对昆虫和植物而言是互惠互利的关系。
And while most figs grown for human consumption can be produced without wasps, wild figs are completely dependent on them to reproduce.
虽然供人类消费的大部分无花果不需要黄蜂都能生产，但野生无花果完全依靠黄蜂进行繁殖。
These fruits are surprisingly important, too.
这些果实也出乎意料地重要。
They're known as a keystone species, and are consumed by over 1200 types of animals, including birds, fruit bats, and primates.
它们被称为关键物种，且是1200多种动物的食物，包括鸟类、果蝠和灵长目动物。
Scientists even think figs might have been a vital food source for early humans.
科学家们甚至认为无花果是早期人类的重要食物来源。
So by pollinating them, wasps help to maintain tropical and sub-tropical forest ecosystems all over the world.
通过给它们授粉，黄蜂帮助维持全世界的热带和亚热带森林生态系统。
And your family tree might also have them to thank. Finally, wasps aren't just worth keeping around for our plants.
你的族谱或许也应该感谢它们。最后，黄蜂不仅仅是值得为了我们的星球而保留。
If we killed them all off, we might also be missing out on an important medical resource.
如果消灭了它们，我们还能够失去一种重要的医疗资源。
See, wasp venom contains a class of peptides, which are essentially small proteins, called mastoparans.
黄蜂毒液含有一种缩氨酸，本质上是一类被称为黄蜂毒素的小蛋白。
And although they're toxic, mastoparans could treat diseases if they're used in the right way.
虽然有毒，但经正确使用，黄蜂毒素可以治疗疾病。
Recently, several studies have investigated whether they could be used to treat cancer.
近期几项研究对它们是否可被用于治疗癌症进行调查。
A 2015 study from the journal Peptides found that they increased survival in a mouse model of melanoma.
《Peptides》杂志中一项2015年的研究发现它们可以增加黑素瘤小鼠模型的存活率。
And a 2016 study demonstrated that mastoparans could also kill several types of cancer cells by splitting open the cell membranes.
一项2016年的研究表明黄蜂毒素也可以通过迅速破开细胞膜从而杀死几种类型的癌细胞。
This peptide was more toxic to cancer cells than to healthy cells, too.
相比健康细胞，这种缩氨酸对癌症细胞更为致命。
Right now, scientists aren't sure exactly why, but they think it's because cancer cell membranes have different properties than healthy cells.
现在科学家们并不确定其原因，但他们认为这是因为癌细胞膜相比健康细胞有不同的属性。
For example, they have more of a negative electrical charge, which could attract the positively-charged mastoparan.
例如，它们带有更多的负电荷，能够吸引正电荷的黄蜂毒素。
Several studies have even shown that these peptides might be useful antibiotics.
几项研究甚至表明这些缩氨酸可能是有效的抗生素。
They've been shown to be effective at killing several types of bacteria and fungi that can infect humans.
它们被证明能够有效杀死几种可以感染人类的细菌和真菌。
In a 2017 study published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents,
在发表于《International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents》的一项2017的研究中，
a mastoparan peptide was shown to significantly reduce the number of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in mice.
黄蜂毒素缩氨酸被证明能够极大地减少老鼠体内金黄色酿脓葡萄球菌的数量。
This is an extremely common and potentially dangerous human pathogen, and causes everything from skin infections to pneumonia.
这是一种相当普遍且有潜在危害的人类病原体，并且会导致各种疾病，如皮肤感染和肺炎。
It can even cause blood, heart, and bone infections.
甚至会导致血液、心脏和骨感染。
In this study, after six days of applying the mastoparan to cuts infected with the bacteria, there were significantly fewer S. aureus.
在这项研究中，将黄蜂毒素应用于感染了细菌的伤口，六天后金黄色酿脓葡萄球菌显著减少。
There's a lot more research to be done before wasp venom therapies are ready to be tested on humans,
在将黄蜂毒液用于人体测试之前，还要进行更多的研究，
but they are definitely worth investigating further.
但是它们绝对值得进一步研究。
So, even though wasps are kind of obnoxious, they play a really important role in the environment.
所以即便黄蜂有点讨厌，但它们在环境中起到了非常重要的作用。
And maybe one day, they'll play a big role in human health.
或许有一天，它们能为人类健康发挥大作用。
Which means that, as great as it would be that not have them buzzing around your next picnic or trip to the cider mill, they're worth keeping around.
这意味着虽然没有它们围绕着你的野餐或在你的苹果酒厂之旅中嗡嗡作响很棒，但它们值得围绕周围。
Besides, if we're going to eliminate an animal from the earth, it should obviously be the ticks.
此外，如果你要消除地球上的某种动物，显然应该是扁虱。
Thanks for watching this episode of SciShow! If you'd like to learn more about surprisingly useful insects,
感谢收看本期《科学秀》！如果你想了解更多关于有用昆虫的知识，
you can watch our episode on what would happen if we killed all of the world's mosquitos,
可以点击观看视频《如果消灭世界上的所有蚊子会怎样》，
and look forward to the one in which we talk about why ticks are good I guess!
我猜大家可以期待一下下期我们将要谈论的，为什么扁虱是有益的。
