新的研究表明，飛蛾在為花卉和植物授粉方面扮演著重要的角色

新的研究表明，飛蛾在為花卉和植物授粉方面扮演著重要的角色

Moths have long been seen as the annoying creatures that leave holes in your clothes. But new research suggests that those pesky insects have been badly misjudged.

長久以來，飛蛾一直被視為在你的衣服上留下洞洞的討厭生物。但新的研究表明，這些討厭的昆蟲被嚴(yán)重誤判了。

A new study, published this week in the journal Biology Letters, found that moths play a vital but overlooked role in pollinating flowers and plants overnight -- visiting more plant species than even bees.

本周發(fā)表在《生物學(xué)快報》雜志上的一項新研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，飛蛾在夜間為花卉和植物授粉方面發(fā)揮著重要但被忽視的作用，甚至比蜜蜂拜訪更多的植物物種。

"[Nocturnal moths] complement the work of daytime pollinators, helping to keep plant populations diverse and abundant," Richard Walton, an environmental scientist at University College London and lead author of the study, said in a news release.

“(夜蛾)補(bǔ)充了白天傳粉者的工作，幫助保持植物種群的多樣性和豐富性，”倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的環(huán)境科學(xué)家、該研究的第一作者理查德·沃爾頓在新聞發(fā)布會上說。

"They also provide natural biodiversity back-up, and without them, many more plant species and animals, such as birds and bats that rely on them for food, would be at risk."

“它們還為自然生物多樣性提供了后盾，如果沒有它們，更多的植物物種和動物，例如依賴它們作為食物的鳥類和蝙蝠，將面臨危險。”

The study comes as moth populations around the world are facing severe declines, Walton wrote in an email to CNN.

沃爾頓在給CNN的一封電子郵件中寫道，這項研究是在全球蛾類數(shù)量面臨嚴(yán)重下降的情況下進(jìn)行的。

The findings are especially significant given that species of bees are also facing dramatic declines. If certain bee or butterfly species disappeared from the landscape, he said, moths could potentially fill in that pollination gap -- which is critical to a healthy ecosystem.

考慮到蜜蜂的種類也在急劇減少，這一發(fā)現(xiàn)顯得尤為重要。他說，如果某些蜜蜂或蝴蝶物種從景觀中消失，飛蛾可能會填補(bǔ)授粉空缺，這對一個健康的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)至關(guān)重要。

"As we realize that they are important contributors to the pollination process, it becomes even more important to protect moth populations because we might be placing ourselves at risk," Walton wrote.

沃爾頓寫道:“當(dāng)我們意識到它們是授粉過程的重要貢獻(xiàn)者時，保護(hù)飛蛾種群就變得更加重要了，因為我們可能會把自己置于危險之中。”

Moths visited more plant species than bees and other insects

飛蛾比蜜蜂和其他昆蟲拜訪了更多的植物物種

The team from University College London recorded bees, wasps, hoverflies and butterflies as they visited different flower species during the day, and compared those results against the pollen found on moths, which visit and pollinate flowers overnight.

來自倫敦大學(xué)學(xué)院的研究小組記錄了蜜蜂、黃蜂、果蠅和蝴蝶白天拜訪不同花種的情況，并將這些結(jié)果與飛蛾的花粉進(jìn)行了比較，飛蛾在夜間拜訪并為花朵授粉。

The study was conducted around nine ponds in Norfolk, England, during March through October of 2016 and 2017.

這項研究是在2016年3月至10月和2017年期間，在英國諾?？丝さ?個池塘附近進(jìn)行的。

Researchers swabbed 838 moths and found that 381 of them transported pollen from 47 different plant species, including at least seven rarely visited by bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Meanwhile, a network of 632 bees, wasps, hoverflies and butterflies visited 45 plant species and 1,548 social bees visited 46 plant species.

研究人員采集了838只飛蛾的樣本，發(fā)現(xiàn)其中381只飛蛾傳遞了47種不同植物的花粉，其中至少有7種很少被蜜蜂、果蠅和蝴蝶拜訪。同時，由632只蜜蜂、黃蜂、果蠅和蝴蝶組成的網(wǎng)絡(luò)拜訪了45種植物，1548只社會蜜蜂拜訪了46種植物。

The scientists did not directly measure pollination, the process that allows for fertilization and the production of seeds, but rather the earlier stages in the process such as flower visitation and pollen transport.

科學(xué)家們并沒有直接測量授粉過程，即受精和產(chǎn)生種子的過程，而是測量授粉過程的早期階段，如拜訪花和花粉運(yùn)輸階段。

The role of moths has been understudied

飛蛾的作用一直沒有得到充分的研究

Walton said that future research would hopefully look at just how effective moths are at pollinating.

沃爾頓說，未來的研究將有望著眼于飛蛾如何有效地授粉。

While much research has focused on bees, researchers said that the role moths play in pollinating plants hasn't been studied nearly as much.

許多研究都集中在蜜蜂身上，研究人員說，飛蛾在植物授粉過程中所起的作用還沒有得到足夠的研究。

Still, this latest study provides encouraging news -- the researchers found that moths transport pollen in a way that is similar to bees and hoverflies.

盡管如此，這項最新研究還是帶來了令人鼓舞的消息，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，飛蛾傳播花粉的方式與蜜蜂和果蠅相似。

So what needs to be done to conserve moth species?

那么需要做些什么來保護(hù)飛蛾呢?

"All the research that we and others have done indicate that the best way to protect moths is to protect their habitat," Walton wrote.

沃爾頓寫道:“我們和其他人所做的所有研究都表明，保護(hù)飛蛾的最佳方式就是保護(hù)它們的棲息地。”