幼小又無助的它，逃命全靠「搭便車」

關注 領研網（ID: linkresearcher），訂閱最新「科學60秒」英語新聞，不再漏掉任何一次新知 plus 練耳的機會~

含有[論文鏈接]、[聽力原文]、[參考譯文]、[重難點辭彙和短語] 的完整套餐，戳下方

[聽力原文]

Little Aphids Ride Big Ones to Safety

Imagine you"re anaphid, a tiny insect that sucks plantsapfor a living. You』remunchingaway when a cow comes along to munch on the same plant you』re on. You feel its warm breath. So you drop to the ground to avoid being eaten and run away.

The ground is a scary place for an aphid, but it』s better than a cow』s mouth. But if you"re an especially small, young aphid, also known as anymph,scamperingover cracks, stones and twigs is really difficult.

Luckily, young aphids have a solution. They climb aboard the back of a larger aphid that』s also making an escape and hitch a ride, cowboy style.

「Sometimes there"s a pile of nymphs at the beginning that climb on the adult, sometimes even eight or nine nymphs that all climb on the adult.」 University of HaifaentomologistMoshe Gish.

Thanks to a series of experiments, Gish learned that the nymphs actively seek out adults after dropping to the ground. It"s not that they just try to climb onto any old thing they find nearby.

For the adults, the nymphs are a bit of anuisance…[read more]

逃命全靠「搭便車」

假如你是一隻小蚜蟲，靠吸吮植物汁液為生，當你正在大快朵頤時，一頭奶牛突然靠近，要吃掉你所在的這棵植物；奶牛溫暖的氣息掠過，為了不被吃掉，你縱身跳到地上，逃之夭夭。

對蚜蟲而言，地面儘管危險四伏，但也比奶牛嘴裡要好得多。然而，如果你弱小無助、格外年幼（不完全變態昆蟲的幼蟲也稱作若蟲），就很難在裂縫、石頭和樹枝間蹦來蹦去。

幸運的是，小蚜蟲們自有妙計：它們會爬到一隻也在逃命的大蚜蟲背上，「搭便車」逃跑，像牛仔一樣，酷酷的。

「有時最開始爬上成蟲背上的不止一隻若蟲，有時甚至有八九隻。」海法大學（University of Haifa）的昆蟲學家摩西·吉什（Moshe Gish）說。

通過一系列實驗，吉什了解到若蟲在跳到地面後會積極尋找成蟲，它們可不是在附近隨便找到個老傢伙就爬上去。

喜歡這篇文章嗎？立刻分享出去讓更多人知道吧！