我家蟲住民-居家蟲蟲特展的最後兩場科普系列講座在 3 月 26 日圓滿結束了,我們感受到大朋友、小朋友滿滿的熱情,謝謝大家的參與!
26 日上午的講座由台大公共衛生學系蔡坤憲教授帶領大家入門認識各種蚊子,我們看到了像金腹巨蚊、海氏掠蚊等大蚊子,雖然嚇人但牠們其實不會叮人,反而
會吃蚊子的幼蟲,可以讓蚊子吃蚊子達到生物控制的效果。蔡老師也介紹了台灣
常見的白線斑蚊、埃及斑蚊和熱帶家蚊,牠們的生活環境、習性不同,下次再看
到牠們,就能應用、當作判斷居家環境的指標。最後是大家都很關心的蟲媒傳染
病,如:登革熱、屈公病、茲卡病毒是透過斑蚊傳播的,我們只要做到清除、刷
洗積水容器,就能防止蚊蟲孳生。
下午的講座由台大昆蟲系的退休教授李後晶主講,李老師從蟑螂的身體構造出
發,帶大家認識在地球存活了三億年的蟑螂有何獨特之處。蟑螂具有優異的體
型,從實驗中發現即便蟑螂的腳斷了都還能夠快速地移動、攀爬,牠們也能夠將
身體壓縮到極限,適應各種地形環境。李老師更進一部介紹了生理時鐘的概念,
我們搭飛機出國旅行容易有時差,但是古代人騎馬到遙遠的地方卻不會有時差問
題,那是因為旅行時間拉長,人體可以一點一點慢慢調節因此感受不到時差;相
較之下德國蟑螂則是能夠快速、幾乎零時差的克服環境的時間訊息。
希望看完展覽、聽完講座的朋友們,從中發現昆蟲跟我們的生活如此息息相關,原來我們這麼近!也要感謝國立自然科學博物館、國立臺灣大學生物資源暨農學院、國立臺灣大學農業陳列館、國立臺灣大學昆蟲學系共同辦理本次展覽,使展覽得以順利圓滿。
The last two popular science forums in the arthropod housemate series were held on March 26. We appreciate the warmth and feedback we received from the participants.
The morning session was led by professor Tsai Kun-Shian from Department of Public Health at NTU. Professor Tsai gave a brief introduction on mosquitoes. Some mosquitoes are large in size but do not sting, and they eat the larvae of other mosquitoes and therefore contribute to pest control. Professor Tsai also introduced the living habitats of commonly seen mosquitoes, which could be used as an indicator on the sanitary condition of the environment. Lastly, it is important to keep in mind that regular cleaning of water containers can prevent transmission of Dengue virus, Zika virus, and Chikungunya virus, all of which are carried by mosquitoes.
The afternoon session featured professor Lee Hao-Ching, a retired professor at Department of Entomology, NTU. Professor Lee started the session with an introduction to the anatomy of cockroaches and their unique features that helped cockroaches survive 3 billion years on Earth. Cockroaches can move and climb even when they lose part of their appendages, and they are able to compress their bodies to fit into most spaces. Another example of cockroach strangeness is their biological clock. Professor Lee explained that we experience jetlag when traveling abroad by plane, whereas, in ancient times, people did not experience jetlag when traveling long-distance on horses because the travelling time was longer, providing sufficient time for the body to adjust to each time zone along the way. Cockroaches, on the other hand, can adjust efficiently to various time zones and do not experience jetlag.
We hope that everyone who attended the forum and visited the exhibition learned something about how closely insects and our lives are intertwined. We thank the National Museum of Natural Science, College of Bioresources & Agriculture, National Taiwan University Agricultural Exhibition Hall, and Department of Entomology at National Taiwan University for co-hosting this exhibition.