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(单词翻译)
Odd Spider Prefers Salad
In a study in the journal Current Biology, researchers report the discovery of an unusual spider, Bagheera kiplingi, that eschews1 meat and chews acacia tips. Karen Hopkin reports
It’s said that real men don’t each quiche. And real spiders don’t eat salad. Or so everyone thought, until scientists discovered a jumping spider that seems to be a vegetarian2. The report appears in the journal Current Biology.
Spiders are notorious hunters, luring3 prey4 into their sticky webs or ambushing5 them from behind a leaf. But field researchers have found that a jumping spider called Bagheera kiplingi actually prefers the leaf—or in this case, the leaf-tips produced by the acacia shrub6. These tasty tips are usually eaten by ants that live on the plant and protect it from hungry herbivores. Or at least try to.
The veggie-loving spiders, it seems, outwit the ants by making themselves scarce or by spinning silky droplines to give the ants the slip. They may also pull the old wolf-in-sheep’s clothing trick by cloaking themselves in the ants’ chemical scent7, a possibility the scientists are trying to sniff8 out.
For some of these spiders, acacia tips make up more than 90 percent of their diet. So, little Miss Muffet has nothing to fear from B. Kiplingi. Unless she’s sitting on an acacia bush. In which case here’s a tip: get a new tuffet, Muffet.
—Karen Hopkin
1 eschews | |
v.(尤指为道德或实际理由而)习惯性避开,回避( eschew的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2 vegetarian | |
n.素食者;adj.素食的 | |
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3 luring | |
吸引,引诱(lure的现在分词形式) | |
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4 prey | |
n.被掠食者,牺牲者,掠食;v.捕食,掠夺,折磨 | |
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5 ambushing | |
v.埋伏( ambush的现在分词 );埋伏着 | |
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6 shrub | |
n.灌木,灌木丛 | |
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7 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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8 sniff | |
vi.嗅…味道;抽鼻涕;对嗤之以鼻,蔑视 | |
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