獨特的偽裝形式使聾蛾能夠躲避蝙蝠的追捕

獨特的偽裝形式使聾蛾能夠躲避蝙蝠的追捕

New research has found that deaf moths can hide from the ultrasonic radar of bats to prevent themselves from becoming dinner. Since the moths are unable to hear and take evasive action against the bat’s ultrasonic calls, they have evolved an "invisibility cloak" of noise-canceling scales, preventing the bats from knowing their position.

一項新的研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，失聰?shù)亩曜涌梢远惚茯鸬某暡ɡ走_，以免自己成為獵物。由于飛蛾無法聽到蝙蝠的超聲波并采取規(guī)避行動，它們進化出了一種能消除噪音的鱗片“隱形斗篷”，使蝙蝠無法知道自己的位置。

The dynamics of bat-moth interactions are a stunning example of adaptive prey and predator responses. Bats, who have poor vision at night, use a series of ultrasonic echolocation calls to track and catch their food. By sending out high-frequency calls they can navigate their environment by detecting how the sounds are reflected as they hit various objects. This audible map builds a picture of the bat’s surroundings, using frequencies pitched at around 20-100 kilohertz, which is inaudible to the human ear.

蝙蝠與蛾子之間的相互作用是適應(yīng)性獵物和捕食者反應(yīng)的一個極好的例子。蝙蝠在夜間視力很差，它們利用一系列超聲波回聲定位來追蹤和捕捉食物。通過發(fā)出高頻率的叫聲，它們可以通過探測聲音在撞擊不同物體時的反射來辨別周圍環(huán)境。這張聽覺地圖利用大約20-100千赫茲的頻率構(gòu)建了一幅蝙蝠周圍環(huán)境的圖像，而人類的耳朵是聽不到的。

Some moths have evolved to thwart this hunting technique by “talking back” and jamming the bat’s ultrasonic radar, an adaptive technique that has been observed in tiger moths. Other moths that are toxic to bats appear to have developed ultrasonic warnings that they emit when hunting bats are in close range. A juvenile bat may still nibble on a few toxic moths before it puts two and two together, but researchers found moths with the sound apparatus removed were hunted readily while those emitting warning noises were avoided.

一些飛蛾通過“頂嘴”和干擾蝙蝠的超聲波雷達來阻止這種捕獵技術(shù)，蝙蝠的超聲波雷達是在虎蛾身上觀察到的一種適應(yīng)性技術(shù)。其他對蝙蝠有毒的飛蛾似乎已經(jīng)發(fā)出了超聲波警報，當(dāng)蝙蝠接近它們時，它們就會發(fā)出這種警報。一只年幼的蝙蝠可能還會在把兩只有毒的蛾子放在一起之前，啃咬幾只有毒的蛾子，但研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，當(dāng)那些發(fā)出警告的聲音被避開時，沒有聲音裝置的蛾子很容易被獵殺。

Rachael Funnell

A team of researchers at the School of Biological Sciences in Bristol examined external characteristics of two species of deaf moth, Antherina suraka and Callosamia promethea. They observed that the thorax scales look structurally similar to materials used for noise insulation and wondered if this constituted some form of acoustic camouflage, publishing their findings in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface.

布里斯托爾生物科學(xué)學(xué)院的一組研究人員對兩種聾蛾的外部特征進行了研究。他們觀察到胸鱗片在結(jié)構(gòu)上類似于用于隔音的材料，并想知道這是否構(gòu)成某種形式的聲學(xué)偽裝，他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)發(fā)表在《皇家學(xué)會界面雜志》上。

Using scanning electron microscopy, they looked at what happened when sound energy similar to that of a predatory bat call was directed at the moths and found the scales on their bodies were capable of absorbing up to 85 percent of the sound. In the wild this could hamper a bat’s ability to detect the presence of a moth by almost a quarter, meaning the deaf moths could evade predation without so much as lifting a wingtip.

通過掃描電子顯微鏡，他們觀察到當(dāng)聲音能量類似于蝙蝠捕食時的聲音能量直接作用于飛蛾時，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)飛蛾身上的鱗片能夠吸收85%的聲音。在野外，這可能會使蝙蝠發(fā)現(xiàn)飛蛾的能力降低近四分之一，這意味著失聰?shù)娘w蛾甚至不用掀起翅膀就能躲避捕食。

"We were amazed to see that these extraordinary insects were able to achieve the same levels of sound absorption as commercially available technical sound absorbers, whilst at the same time being much thinner and lighter,” said lead author Dr Thomas Neil, Research Associate from Bristol's School of Biological Sciences, in a statement. "We are now looking at ways in which we can use these biological systems to inspire new solutions to sound-insulating technology and analyze the scaling on a moth's wing to explore whether they too have sound-absorbing properties."

“我們驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)，這些非凡的昆蟲能夠達到與商用技術(shù)吸聲器相同的吸聲水平，同時又更薄更輕。”該研究的第一作者、布里斯托爾大學(xué)生物科學(xué)學(xué)院的副研究員托馬斯·尼爾博士在一份聲明中說。“我們現(xiàn)在正在研究如何利用這些生物系統(tǒng)來激發(fā)隔音技術(shù)的新解決方案，并分析飛蛾翅膀上的積垢，以探索它們是否也具有吸音性能。”

So, who knows? If you’ve got an aspiring drummer in the flat next door making your life a living hell, moth wallpaper could be the answer.

所以,誰知道呢?如果你隔壁的公寓里有一個有抱負的鼓手，讓你的生活變成了人間地獄，那么蛾紋壁紙可能就是答案。

Ever wondered what a bat can "see" when using its ultrasonic radar? This "bat ear" can show you.

有沒有想過蝙蝠在使用超聲波雷達時能“看到”什么?這個“蝙蝠耳朵”可以告訴你。