2018.07.05
星期四
Bats and their prey are in a constant arms race.
蝙蝠和它们的猎物一直在装备竞争之中。
Whereas the winged mammals home in on insects with frighteningly accurate sonar, some of their prey—such as the tiger moth—fight back with sonar clicks and even jamming signals.
尽管这种有翅类哺乳动物会以准得吓人的声纳来围捕猎物，它们的有些猎物—比如虎蛾—会用滴答响的声纳进行反击甚至干扰信号。
Now, in a series of bat-moth skirmishes (above), scientists have shown how other moths create an “acoustic illusion,” with long wing-tails that fool bats into striking the wrong place.
如今，在它们一系列（上述的）蝙蝠-飞蛾大战中，科学家们揭示了其他的蛾类是如何利用燕尾形的翅膀来建立“声效幻想”，来让蝙蝠扑向错误的方位的。
The finding helps explain why some moths have such showy tails, and it may also provide inspiration for drones of the future.
这样的发现有助于解释为什么有些蛾类拥有如此浮夸的燕尾翅膀，还也许可以为将来的无人机设计提供灵感。
Moth tails vary from species to species: Some have big lobes at the bottom of the hindwing instead of a distinctive tail; others have just a short protrusion.
飞蛾的尾部种与种之间差异很大：有些在翅膀后端拥有大型的独特的尾叶；有的则只有简短的凸出物。
Still others have long tails that are thin strands with twisted cuplike ends.
另外有些飞蛾拥有的长尾叶为细条状，带有杯状的末端。
In 2015, sensory ecologist Jesse Barber of Boise State University in Idaho and colleagues discovered that some silk moths use their tails to confuse bat predators.
2015年，来自爱达荷州的博伊斯州立大学的感官生态学家杰西.巴伯尔和同事们就发现有些蚕蛾会利用它们的尾叶来干扰捕食者蝙蝠。
Now, graduate student Juliette Rubin has shown just what makes the tails such effective deterrents.
如今，研究生朱丽叶.鲁宾展示了这些尾叶是如何有效进行干扰的。
Working with three species of silk moths—luna, African moon, and polyphemus—Rubin shortened or cut off some of their hindwings and glued longer or differently shaped tails to others.
她研究了三个品种的蚕蛾—月光，非洲月光和波吕斐摩斯—鲁宾剪短或者剪掉了其中一些的翅膀，而另一些则粘上了更长的或者不同形状的尾叶。
Moths with no tails (such as polyphemus) were easy quarry for the bats, escaping only about 27% of the time, Rubin, Barber, and colleagues report today in Science Advances.
鲁宾、巴伯和他的同事在今天的《科学进展》杂志上报告说，没有尾巴的飞蛾(如波吕斐摩斯)很容易被蝙蝠捕获，只有27%的时间可以逃脱。
But when Rubin enlarged the polyphemus hindwing lobe, twice as many escaped the bat’s sonar, or echolocation system.
而当鲁宾扩大波吕斐摩斯后翅叶后，两倍多的飞蛾可以逃脱蝙蝠的声纳或者叫回声定位系统。
Chapter2
Bats going after long-tailed African moon moths got a mouthful of tail 75% of the time as the moths flitted away.
追捕长尾非洲月光蚕蛾的蝙蝠们75%的时间里会吃到一嘴的尾叶，而飞蛾会成功逃脱。
Shorten the tail, and the African moon moths escaped only 45% of the time.
在剪短尾叶后，非洲月光蚕蛾只有45%的时间可以逃脱。
With no tail at all, that percentage dropped to 34%.
如果完全去掉尾叶，逃脱率降到34%。
When Rubin built a family tree of silk moths and their relatives, she realized that long tails had evolved independently several times.
当鲁宾建立了蚕蛾和它们的亲属的家族树之后，她发现长尾叶是有几次的时间独立进化出来的。
That’s further evidence that they are an important life-saving feature for these moths.
这也成为了它们是这些飞蛾的重要的逃生法门的进一步证据。
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