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Come into my parlor, said the spider to the fly.
近來吧，到我的客廳來，蜘蛛對蒼蠅說道。
At least that's usually the way it goes. In most showdowns between spiders and flies, the odds weigh heavily in the spider's favor. Today, however, we'll look at a few species of fly that manage to turn the tables on their eight legged foes.
至少這種情形經常發生。在蜘蛛與蒼蠅的較量中，蜘蛛的勝算占多數。今天，我們將會觀察幾種蒼蠅，看它們是如何成功反擊，打敗那八條腿的敵人？
When many spiders capture a fly, they don't eat it right away. Instead, they poison the fly and wrap it in silk. They leave this silk-wrapped package for later consumption, just the way you store food in your pantry instead of eating it all right there at the supermarket.
許多蜘蛛捕獲到一只蒼蠅時，并不立即把它吃掉。相反它們會給蒼蠅注射毒液，吐出蛛絲將其團團圍住。它們留著蒼蠅包裹晚點再享用。正如你逛完超市后把食品儲存在食品柜里，而不是立刻就吃掉一樣。
Imagine yourself as a fly passing a web full of these wrapped-up dead flies. You might imagine you'd be frightened by the spectacle of your comrades, wrapped up like so many Hostess Twinkies. Not so for the Microphorus crassipes. This fly species sees a spider's larder as a golden opportunity. Indeed, it gets most of its food by stealing these silk-wrapped packages--very carefully of course--from spiders.
假想自己是一只蒼蠅，正飛過掛滿這種死蒼蠅包裹的蛛網。你也許會被同伴們壯烈的慘象嚇到。但是對Microphorus crassipes而言，卻并不會如此。這種蒼蠅視蜘蛛的儲物柜為絕好的機會。確實，它通過偷取這些包裹來獲取大部分食物，當然它也會十分小心地提防蜘蛛。
Another type of fly found worldwide, called Robber Flies, take this thieving concept one step further. Instead of just stealing the spider's food, certain robber flies go after the spider itself. Robber flies have been seen snatching a spider off of the ground, carrying it away, and eating it.
世界上另一種蒼蠅——食蟲虻，更進一步地發揚了這種偷盜概念。它不僅偷取蛛網上的食物，還跟蹤蜘蛛。有人見過食蟲虻將蜘蛛打翻在地，將其拖走食之。
Even worse news for spiders: There's a whole family of flies--the Small Headed flies--whose larvae actually develop inside a spider's body. These fly larvae burrow into a passing spider, then proceed to eat the spider from the inside out. Spider or fly, fly or spider. Betting on the spider isn't always a sure thing.
還有更令人發指的消息：有一種小頭蒼蠅，它們整個家族的幼蟲都是在蜘蛛體內發育成熟的。這種幼蟲趁蜘蛛走過時鉆入其體內，接著就一點點由內到外吃掉蜘蛛。蜘蛛還是蒼蠅，蒼蠅還是蜘蛛，賭蜘蛛贏也不見得總是對的。
原文譯文屬可可原創，未經允許請勿轉載！
