離開
進入《中英對照讀新聞》Fiddler crabs exchange sex for survival 招潮蟹用性愛換取生存
◎羅彥傑
In the world of fiddler crabs, the best form of protection for females is, apparently, having sex with the neighbors, according to an Australian study published Wednesday.
在招潮蟹的世界裡，女性尋求保護的最好方式，顯然就是和鄰居做愛，根據週三公佈的一項澳洲研究指出。
Researchers from The Australian National University in Canberra found male fiddler crabs will happily defend a nearby female against intruders-partly because the females will dole out sex in return.
坎培拉澳洲國立大學的研究人員發現，公的招潮蟹會很樂於保護鄰近母蟹抵擋入侵者—部分是因為母蟹將提供性愛做為回報。
"The fact that the neighbor comes over and helps to defend another territorial individual is pretty unusual," said Michael Jennions, who helped conduct the study, the results of which were published in the journal Biology Letters.
「鄰居過來幫忙抵擋另一隻本地蟹，這件事非常罕見，」協助進行這項研究的麥可．傑尼恩斯說。這項研究的結果刊登在「生物學通訊」期刊上。
"This study shows, for the first time, that in exchange for sex and other benefits, males protect their female neighbors from territory-seeking male intruders. The paper provides the first evidence of defense coalitions’ between territorial males and females," he said.
「這項研究首度顯示，透過換取性愛與其他好處，公蟹保護母鄰居免於遭到入侵公蟹來搶地盤。這份報告提供了地域性的公蟹與母蟹合組保護聯盟的首件例證，」他說。
新聞辭典
have sex with︰片語，與～發生性關係。例句︰ A university lecturer is accused of having sex with a 13-year-old girl he met online.（一名大學講師被控與網路上認識的13歲女孩發生性關係。）
dole out︰片語，（少量）發放、 發給。例句︰She dole him out one piece of cake.（她發給他一塊蛋糕。）
in exchange for︰片語，作為～的交換。例句︰He gave me an apple in exchange for ten dolloars（他給我一個蘋果換取10元。）
