时差N小时 蝴蝶是如何进化来的(上)

（单词翻译）

These winter mornings can be drab, I look forward to birds and butterflies returning in spring.

这些冬天的早晨有时是单调乏味的，我期待着鸟儿和蝴蝶在春天回来。

Yes, butterflies can always brighten the day.

是的，蝴蝶总能使我们愉快。

It sems fitting, being that they evolved from the drab moth¹ when they moved into the daytime.

这似乎很合适，因为它们是褐色飞蛾在白天活动时进化而来的。

A great point. And over 200 million years ago,

这一点很棒。在两亿多年前，

it wasn't long after moths² evolved special tubes for eating that a group of moths shifted to living during the daytime.

在蛾子进化出特殊的食道后不久，一群蛾子开始在白天生活。

The chance of finding more nectar from open flowers was a natural lure³.

从开着的花中找到更多花蜜是一种天然的诱惑。

For a long time, scientists thought that the moths that would eventually become butterflies were fleeing bats in the night.

在很长一段时间里，科学家们认为最终会变成蝴蝶的飞蛾是在夜间逃离蝙蝠的。

But Akito Kawahara and researchers at the University of Florida now say

但是佛罗里达大学的阿基图·川原和研究人员现在表示，

that the appeal of food probably shaped this evolution more than the threat of predators⁴ in the nighttime.

食物的吸引可能比夜间捕食者的威胁更能塑造这种进化。