独特的伪装形式使聋蛾能够躲避蝙蝠的追捕

独特的伪装形式使聋蛾能够躲避蝙蝠的追捕

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.

一项新的研究发现，失聪的蛾子可以躲避蝙蝠的超声波雷达，以免自己成为猎物。由于飞蛾无法听到蝙蝠的超声波并采取规避行动，它们进化出了一种能消除噪音的鳞片“隐形斗篷”，使蝙蝠无法知道自己的位置。

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.

蝙蝠与蛾子之间的相互作用是适应性猎物和捕食者反应的一个极好的例子。蝙蝠在夜间视力很差，它们利用一系列超声波回声定位来追踪和捕捉食物。通过发出高频率的叫声，它们可以通过探测声音在撞击不同物体时的反射来辨别周围环境。这张听觉地图利用大约20-100千赫兹的频率构建了一幅蝙蝠周围环境的图像，而人类的耳朵是听不到的。

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.

一些飞蛾通过“顶嘴”和干扰蝙蝠的超声波雷达来阻止这种捕猎技术，蝙蝠的超声波雷达是在虎蛾身上观察到的一种适应性技术。其他对蝙蝠有毒的飞蛾似乎已经发出了超声波警报，当蝙蝠接近它们时，它们就会发出这种警报。一只年幼的蝙蝠可能还会在把两只有毒的蛾子放在一起之前，啃咬几只有毒的蛾子，但研究人员发现，当那些发出警告的声音被避开时，没有声音装置的蛾子很容易被猎杀。

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.

布里斯托尔生物科学学院的一组研究人员对两种聋蛾的外部特征进行了研究。他们观察到胸鳞片在结构上类似于用于隔音的材料，并想知道这是否构成某种形式的声学伪装，他们的发现发表在《皇家学会界面杂志》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.

通过扫描电子显微镜，他们观察到当声音能量类似于蝙蝠捕食时的声音能量直接作用于飞蛾时，他们发现飞蛾身上的鳞片能够吸收85%的声音。在野外，这可能会使蝙蝠发现飞蛾的能力降低近四分之一，这意味着失聪的飞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."

“我们惊讶地发现，这些非凡的昆虫能够达到与商用技术吸声器相同的吸声水平，同时又更薄更轻。”该研究的第一作者、布里斯托尔大学生物科学学院的副研究员托马斯·尼尔博士在一份声明中说。“我们现在正在研究如何利用这些生物系统来激发隔音技术的新解决方案，并分析飞蛾翅膀上的积垢，以探索它们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,谁知道呢?如果你隔壁的公寓里有一个有抱负的鼓手，让你的生活变成了人间地狱，那么蛾纹壁纸可能就是答案。

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

有没有想过蝙蝠在使用超声波雷达时能“看到”什么?这个“蝙蝠耳朵”可以告诉你。