英倫翻譯社/ Trsmaster

2023/08/01 05:30
◎盧永山

The City of Angels has a newly discovered species named in its honor: The Los Angeles Thread Millipede.

天使之城有個新發現的物種以它的名字命名：洛杉磯線馬陸。

The tiny arthropod was found just underground by naturalists at a Southern California hiking area — near a freeway, a Starbucks and an Oakley sunglasses store.

這種微小的節肢動物是博物學家在南加州一處徒步區的地下發現，這個徒步區靠近1條高速公路、1家星巴克和1家Oakley太陽眼鏡店。

About the length of a paperclip but skinny as pencil lead, it’s translucent and sinuous like a jellyfish tentacle. The creature burrows four inches below ground, secretes unusual chemicals and is blind, relying on hornlike antennas protruding from its head to find its way.

這隻新種馬陸的長度約如迴紋針，但細如鉛筆芯，身體半透明且蜿蜒，就像水母的觸手一樣。這個生物潛伏在地下4英寸處，分泌不尋常的化學物質，牠沒有眼睛，依靠從頭部伸出的角狀天線來找路。

Under a microscope, the millipede with its 486 legs and helmet-like head resembles a creature in a Hollywood monster film.

在顯微鏡下，這種擁有486條腿和頭盔般頭部的馬陸，就像好萊塢怪獸電影中的生物。

“It’s amazing to think these millipedes are crawling in the inner cracks and crevices between little pieces of rock below our feet in Los Angeles,” said entomologist Paul Marek of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

維吉尼亞理工學院昆蟲學家保羅‧馬雷克表示：「在洛杉磯，想到這些馬陸在我們腳下小塊岩石之間的內部裂縫和縫隙中爬行，真是令人驚奇。」

新聞辭典
secrete：動詞，隱藏、分泌。例句：Saliva is a liquid secreted by glands in or near the mouth.（唾液是由嘴中或嘴部周圍的腺體分泌的一種液體。）

crevice：名詞，縫隙、深的皺紋。例句：Sweat poured out of every crevice of the fat man’s body.（那個胖子身上的每一條皺紋都湧出汗水。）

英倫翻譯轉自 https://features.ltn.com.tw/english/article/paper/1597042