A whip-like straw. Powerful, crushing blades. A pointed, piercing tube.
弯曲、鞭子般的长管。破坏力强大的爪子。尖锐的刺管。
There are nearly a million known insect species in the world, but most have one of just five common types of mouthparts.
在这个世界上有着数以百万种的昆虫物种，然而多数昆虫都离不开五种最普遍的口器。
And that's extremely useful to scientists because when they encounter an unfamiliar insect in the wild,
而这样的特征对科学家来说就很有帮助，因为当他们发现了一种他们不熟悉的新昆虫物种时，
they can learn a lot about it just by examining how it eats.
就能通过观察它们吃东西的方式来很好的对它们进行研究。
Scientific classification, or taxonomy, is used to organize all living things into seven levels:
科学分类，更准确的说：“生物学分类”，是用7个级别来分类所有的生物的：
kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species.
界、门、纲、目、科、属，还有种。
The features of an insect's mouthparts can help identify which order it belongs to,
而昆虫口器的特征就能帮助我们定位它属于哪一个目，
while also providing clues about how it evolved and what it feeds on.
同时也能告诉我们它如何进化以及它的食物来源。
The chewing mouthpart is the most common. It's also the most primitive
咀嚼式口器是最常见的一种类型。这也是最为原始的一种类型，
all other mouthparts are thought to have started out looking like this one before evolving into something different.
其它所有的口器都被认为是从这一种的模样进化而来的。
It features a pair of jaws called mandibles
它具有的特征就是这样一对爪子模样的下颌骨，
with toothed inner edges that cut up and crush solid foods, like leaves or other insects.
在其内侧有着用来碾碎、咀嚼用的牙齿，通常吃的东西是树叶或者是其它的昆虫。
You can find this mouthpart on ants from the Hymenoptera order, grasshoppers and crickets of the Orthoptera order,
这样的口器你可以在膜翅目的蚂蚁、直翅目的蚱蜢和蟋蟀、
dragonflies of the Odonata order, and beetles of the Coleoptera order.
蜻蜓目的蜻蜓和鞘翅目的甲虫的身上找到。
The piercing-sucking mouthpart consists of a long, tube-like structure called a beak.
第二种是刺吸式口器，由一支叫做喙的长管组成。
This beak can pierce plant or animal tissue to suck up liquids like sap or blood.
这支喙可以刺入植物和动物组织来吸取植物液或者是血液。
It can also secrete saliva with digestive enzymes that liquefy food for easier sucking.
它同时也可以分泌出具有消化酶的唾液，来更好的消化食物以帮助吸取。
Insects in the Hemiptera order have piercing-sucking mouthparts and include bed bugs, cicadas, aphids, and leafhoppers.
半翅类的昆虫就具有这样刺吸式的口器，其中包括臭虫、蝉、蚜虫、叶蝉。
The siphoning mouthpart, a friendlier version of the piercing and sucking beak,
虹吸式口器，一种比较友好一点的刺吸式口器，
also consists of a long, tube-like structure called a proboscis that works like a straw to suck up nectar from flowers.
也是由一根称作长嘴的的管状组织构成，它就像一根吸管一样吸取花中的花蜜。

Insects of the Lepidoptera order -- butterflies and moths
鳞翅类的昆虫--蝴蝶或者是蛾，
keep their proboscises rolled up tightly beneath their heads when they're not feeding
当它们不在进食时，就会把口器紧紧卷起来收在它们的头部下方，
and unfurl them when they come across some sweet nectar.
而当它们开始吸食花蜜时就会将其展开。
With the sponging mouthpart, there's yet another tube,
舔吸式口器，另外一种喙管，
this time ending in two spongy lobes that contain many finer tubes called pseudotracheae.
不过这次末端是两个海绵似得垂体，其中包含了许多很细的管子，叫做拟气管。
The pseudotracheae secrete enzyme-filled saliva and soak up fluids and dissolved foods by capillary action.
拟气管通过毛细管作用来分泌充满酶的唾液，渗入它们的食物。
House flies, fruit flies, and the other non-biting members of the Diptera order are the only insects that use this technique.
家蝇、果蝇以及许多其它双翅目不叮咬的昆虫，都是使用这一方式的昆虫。
But, there's a catch. Biting flies within Diptera, like mosquitoes, horse flies, and deer flies,
不过，有一个问题。双翅目中会叮咬的昆虫，例如蚊子、马蝇、鹿虻，
have a piercing-sucking mouthpart instead of the sponging mouthpart.
是有着刺吸式的口器，而非舔吸式的。
And finally, the chewing-lapping mouthpart
最后，嚼吸式口器，
is a combination of mandibles and a proboscis with a tongue-like structure at its tip for lapping up nectar.
是一种像舌头般的由下颌钳和前段喙管结合而成的口器，这样的构造是为了舔食花蜜。
On this type of mouthpart, the mandibles themselves are not actually used for eating.
在这种类型的口器中，下颌钳其实并没有在进食中被使用到。
For bees and wasps, members of the Hymenoptera order, they serve instead as tools for pollen-collecting and wax-molding.
对于属于膜翅类的蜜蜂和黄蜂，这一部分的器官更多会作用于花粉的采集和蜂巢的模制。
Of course, in nature, there are always exceptions to the rules.
当然，在自然中，总还是会有许多例外。
The juvenile stages of some insects, for example, have completely different kinds of mouths than their adult versions,
例如许多昆虫的幼虫时期，有着和成年时期完全不同的口器类型，
like caterpillars, which use chewing mouthparts to devour leaves before metamorphosing into butterflies and moths with siphoning mouthparts.
比如毛虫在变成蝴蝶和飞蛾之前会用咀嚼式口器来吞食叶子，而蝴蝶和飞蛾则是虹吸式口器。
Still, mouthpart identification can, for the most part, help scientists -- and you -- categorize insects.
然而，口器的识别在很大程度上还是能够帮助科学家--包括你--来分类昆虫的。
So why not break out a magnifying lens and learn a little more about who's nibbling your vegetable garden,
所以为什么不赶快拿出一个放大镜来，多研究一下到底是谁在啃你菜园的菜，
biting your arm, or just flying by your ear.
谁在叮你的胳膊，或者说是谁在你耳边飞过。