How
spiders live and behave?
Silk,
the secret of success
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蜘蛛怎样生活和表现自己？
丝，成功的秘诀
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One major reason
for the success of spiders is the silk they produce and the ways in which
they use it. |
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蜘蛛成功的主要原因是在于它们产出的丝和它们使用丝的方法。 |
Spider silk is
mainly made up of proteins. It leaves the spider's body as a liquid which
hardens rapidly in the air, then does not dissolve in water. It is very
strong, and can stretch to add one-third more to its length, then snap
back to its original length without change in shape. |
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蜘蛛丝主要由蛋白质构成。它以液体的形式从蜘蛛体内流出来，遇到空气后立即变硬，且不溶于水。丝的质地非常坚韧，能被拉长并超出其原来长度的三分之一，接着又砰地一声回复到它原来的长度而不改变形状。 |
Silk is
produced in glands which make up a large part of a spider's abdomen.
Different glands make different sorts of silk to be used for purposes
including the manufacture of egg sacs, lining shelters and constructing
webs. Silk is also used for the safety lines many spiders drag behind
them, which save them if they fall. Young spiders spin silken threads on
which they "balloon" through the air. |
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蛛丝出自于蜘蛛的腺体，这些腺体构成了蜘蛛腹部的很大一部分。不同的腺体制造不同种类的蛛丝，其作用包括制造卵囊﹑划定居所﹑编织蛛网等许多方面。蛛丝也是许多蜘蛛拖在身后的安全索，能在它们跌落时保住小命。小蜘蛛能纺出许多光滑的细丝，使它们能像气球一样在空中漂动。 |
Many tiny tubes
connect each silk gland with a spinneret. The sticky fluid which coats the
strands in orb webs and catching lines is applied in these tubes. |
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许多极细小的导管把每个造丝腺体与吐丝器相连。一些黏液适用于这些导管中，覆盖在蜘蛛网上细丝和抓捕丝上的黏液是通过这些导管涂抹的。 |
Mate, not dinner
|
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配偶，不是大餐
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A female spider
is often much larger than a male of the same species, and is sometimes
quite different in appearance. Courtship is lengthy, for the male must
convince the female he is a mate and not prey. |
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母蜘蛛通常比同种的公蜘蛛大得多，且有时在外貌上更是大相径庭。求偶是漫长的，因为公蜘蛛必须让母蜘蛛相信它是配偶而不是猎物。 |
To introduce
himself, a male may posture, dance, pluck a female's web or present
gift-wrapped prey. He spins a special web, expels sperm onto it, then
sucks the sperm into bulbs on the ends of his pedipalps. When he judges it
is safe to do so, he inserts the end of a pedipalp into the female's
reproductive opening and discharges the sperm it carries. |
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为了推介自我，公蜘蛛会故作姿态，跳舞，扯动母蜘蛛的网，或献上一个包装好的猎物作为爱的信物。它会织出一个特殊的网，将精液排在上面，然后把精液吸附在须肢末端的球状物上。当它确定安全时，便将须肢末端插进母蜘蛛的生殖孔中并放出它所携带的精液。 |
The female
stores the sperm until she is ready to lay eggs. She may lay 100 at a
time, protecting them in a silken egg sac. |
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母蜘蛛会贮存这些精液直到它为产卵做好了准备。它可以一次产100枚卵，然后将它们保护在一个丝质卵囊内。 |
Sacs and tiny spiders
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卵囊和小蜘蛛
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Silken egg sacs
may be hidden in vegetation, or in crevices, or buried in the ground. Most
are guarded. The sacs may be carried around on the spinnerets, between the
legs or in the jaws. Female wolf spiders may allow young to climb on their
backs and transport them. |
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丝质卵囊可能被藏在植物或石缝中，或被埋在地下。其中大部分受到看护。卵囊也可能被放在吐丝器上，肢体间或颌中跟随蜘蛛。母狼蛛会允许幼蜘蛛爬到它背上，并驮着它们走。 |
Camouflage
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伪装 |
Spiders may
rely on camouflage to protect them from predators such as birds. They may
blend in with the colour or texture of their background in order to lie in
ambush waiting for their own prey. A wraparound spider has a broad abdomen
which is so flattened that the spider can wrap itself around a twig.
Bird-dropping spiders and crab spiders are also well camouflaged by colour
and texture. Some spiders mimic insects such as ants. |
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蜘蛛能依靠伪装保护自己免受如鸟一类的掠食者的威胁。它们会将体色和纹理与背景恰当地融合在一起，再打埋伏等待自己的猎物上门。扁蜘蛛有宽阔的腹部，它扁平得能让蜘蛛包裹住细枝。鸟粪蛛和蟹蛛也很善于靠体色和纹理伪装。有些蜘蛛摹拟成如蚂蚁一类的昆虫的样子。 |