【英语时差8,16】哥斯达黎加黄蜂的男性规则（上）

In most species of social insects, such as wasps¹, bees, and ants, the females rule. The females are the workers. They are the ones to go out and get the food, and they are also the ones to care for the queen, the larvae², and the nest in general. The males of these species of insects are typically lazy, and they bare the brunt of much abuse. They’re sometimes bitten, fed scraps³, and chased out of the home for good by their sisters not long after they’re born. Not only that, but among paper wasps in the United States the females practice what scientists call “male stuffing.” When a worker brings food home to the nest, her sisters shove their brothers headfirst into empty nest cells to prevent them from consuming any of the food.

 

1 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

2 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

3 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。