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世界上最可怕的毛毛虫

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When you hear the word 'caterpillar', you probably think of a hungry little chubby-grubby thing happily chowing down on some leaves.

当你听到“毛毛虫”这个词的时候,你想到的或许是小小的圆圆胖胖的小东西欢快的在树叶上吃着。
But the Hawaiian inchworm, also known as the ambush caterpillar, might change your mind.
但是夏威夷尺蠖,也被称为伏击毛毛虫,或许会改变你的看法。
Because when it arrived in paradise, it ditched the peaceful vegan diet for razor-sharp claws, a sensitive hair trigger, and a taste for meat. Specifically, live bug meat.
因为当它到达这片天堂时,它放弃了平静的素食主义者身份,亮出尖利的爪子、敏感的微力触脚以及对肉类的味觉。特别是,活的昆虫肉。
The first thing that's weird about these guys is that islands are often home to gentler forms of life—a tendency known as island tameness.
关于这些家伙首先最怪异的是这个岛一直是温和生物物种的家园—这种趋势被称为岛屿驯化。
That's because the vast majority of species don't make the dangerous trek across waterways.
这是因为大多数物种不会冒着波山涉水的危险。
So those that do find themselves in a habitat free from their usual competitors and predators, where they can start a new, more relaxed lifestyle.
所以那些生物居住在没有竞争者和捕猎者危险的栖息地,在这里它们可以重开始新的且更加轻松的生活方式。
Hawaiian raspberries ditched their thorns, for example. No point in being thorny if there are no mammals you need to fend off.
比如,夏威夷树莓抛弃了它们的刺。如果没有需要避开的哺乳动物的话,要尖刺也没用。
Somehow, Hawaii's inchworms didn't get the memo.
但是夏威夷尺蠖却没有这样。
For them, the lack of insect eaters was an opportunity—there were just so many bugs around, and pretty much no one else was eating them.
对它们而言,缺少昆虫捕食者是一个机会—周围的昆虫太多了,几乎没有捕食它们的。
They were already used to a somewhat protein-rich diet because of their fondness for pollen over leaves.
由于对花粉的喜爱胜过树叶,所以它们已经习惯了蛋白质丰富的饮食。
And, like other caterpillars, they were equipped with powerful jaws for chewing tough plant material.
并且像其他毛毛虫一样,它们有着强有力的下颌能够咀嚼坚硬的植物。
At some point — probably within the last hundred million years or so — they started using those jaws to chew insects instead.
某些情况下—也许是在过去的几百年里—它们开始利用那些下颌咀嚼昆虫代替花粉。
No one noticed these caterpillars' unusual eating habits until the 1970s, when a biologist named Steven Montgomery saw one chewing on a fly.
没人注意到这些毛毛虫不寻常的饮食习惯,直到1970年代,当时的一名生物学家史蒂文·蒙哥马利看到一只毛毛虫在吃一只苍蝇。
Slightly confused, he brought the animal back to the lab.
他有些困惑,并把这种动物带回了实验室。

世界上最可怕的毛毛虫

For two days, it just sat there, and didn't take so much as a single bite of the leaf it clung to.

两天时间里,毛毛虫待在那里,并没有吃一口树叶。
So on a hunch, he threw a fruit fly in with the caterpillar. And then the fly made the mistake of bumping into the caterpillar's backside.
凭直觉,他给毛毛虫扔了一只果蝇。然后果蝇错误地飞到毛毛虫的背后。
There are other inchworms that rear up and snap their bodies defensively.
其他尺蠖暴跳而起并撕咬它们的身体。
But when prey touches a Hawaiian inchworm, it goes on the attack, whipping around to grab its meal with the six long, sharp claws attached to its legs.
但当被捕食动物触碰到夏威夷尺蠖时,它会进行进攻,突然转身用六只带有坚韧爪子的长腿抓住这口肉。
After that, it's all over for the prey. Even though it's probably not dead yet, it's lunchtime for the caterpillar.
之后,被捕食动物就完蛋了。虽然它或许还没死,但这是毛毛虫的午餐时间。
There are a few other types of carnivorous caterpillars, almost all of which are native to Hawaii.
还有其他几种类型的肉食性毛毛虫,几乎都源于夏威夷。
But the ambush caterpillar is definitely the most violent.
但是伏击毛毛虫绝对是最凶猛的。
A close second is probably H. molluscivora, which eats snails by wrapping them in silk while they're sleeping, then eating them alive once they can't escape.
和它类似的第二种可能是食肉尺蠖,趁着它们睡觉时, 利用蚕丝包裹住蜗牛,一旦无法逃脱,就会被活吃掉。
Which is less violent, but more creepy! But at least it's not a living whip with terrifyingly sharp claws. So thanks, Hawaiian inchworms, for the nightmares.
似乎没有那么暴力,但是更加诡异!但是至少没有带有尖锐爪子的活鞭子。所以感谢夏威夷尺蠖,为了那些梦魇。
And thank you for watching this episode of SciShow!
感谢收看本期科学秀!
If you love learning all about the bizarre world we live in, you can keep up with our latest episodes by going to youtube.com/scishow and subscribing.
如果你想了解更多关于世界的奇妙之处,登录youtube.com/scishow 观看最新视频并订阅。

重点单词   查看全部解释    
slightly ['slaitli]

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adv. 些微地,苗条地

 
habitat ['hæbitæt]

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n. (动植物的)产地,栖息地

联想记忆
pollen ['pɔlin]

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n. [植]花粉,[昆]粉面(双翅目昆虫的易落粉) vt

 
bizarre [bi'zɑ:]

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adj. 奇异的,怪诞的
n. 奇异花

联想记忆
sensitive ['sensitiv]

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adj. 敏感的,灵敏的,易受伤害的,感光的,善解人意的

联想记忆
escape [is'keip]

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v. 逃跑,逃脱,避开
n. 逃跑,逃脱,(逃

 
violent ['vaiələnt]

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adj. 暴力的,猛烈的,极端的

 
peaceful ['pi:sfəl]

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adj. 安宁的,和平的

 
relaxed [ri'lækst]

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adj. 放松的, 松懈的,随意的 relax的过去式(

 
confused [kən'fju:zd]

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adj. 困惑的;混乱的;糊涂的 v. 困惑(confu

 

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