Episode Details

Glow-worms are beetles that live in gardens, hedgerows, and heathlands. Emitting a bright green light at night, the females climb up plant stems and glow in order to attract males, who have large eyes sensitive to that type of light.

萤火虫是一种生活在花园、灌木树篱和荒野中的甲虫。在夜间发出明亮绿光的雌性萤火虫爬到植物的茎上并发光，以吸引对这种光敏感的大眼睛的雄性。

Zoologists, though, say the glare of white, artificial lights is putting the females in the comparative shade.

然而，动物学家们表示，刺眼的白色人造光使雌性萤火虫黯然失色。

In order to verify their suspicions, the researchers did a little test – placing male glow-worms in an LED-lit, Y-shaped maze, they gradually made the lights there brighter until the males could no longer find a decoy female.

为了验证他们的猜测，研究人员们做了一个小型试验——将雄性萤火虫放在一个由发光二极管照明的 “Y” 形迷宫中，他们逐渐调亮迷宫里的人造光，直到雄性萤火虫再也找不到发光吸引它们的雌性萤火虫。

The glow-worms, they believe, were unable to move towards the decoy because they were dazzled.

研究人员们认为，雄性萤火虫之所以无法向起吸引作用的雄性萤火虫移动是因为它们被刺眼的人造光照得眼花缭乱。

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