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Ever look in the mirror first thing in the morning and say, I look like crap!
曾經早上起來第一件事情就是看著鏡中自己，然后大喊一聲，我就像坨便便！
Well, for some spiders, looking like poop can actually be a lifesaver.
的確曾經有過這種境況，但對某些蜘蛛來說，看起來像大便也許是能救自己性命。
Because masquerading as a bird turd appears to protect certain arachnids from getting eaten by wasps.
因為偽裝成鳥糞貌似可以保護某種蛛形動物免受黃蜂吞食。
That's according to a study in the journal Nature Scientific Reports.
這是根據一項最近在《自然科學報道》雜志上發表研究得出的結論。
Researchers were marveling over the plentiful bird doo they were seeing in a forest in Taiwan.
研究人們驚異的在臺灣某個森林里發現許多鳥糞。
Then they realized that some of those droppings were in fact speckled spiders sitting atop silky white discs at the center of their webs.
然后他們意識到這些排泄物中有些實際上是斑點蛛在它們結的網中間的絲般白色圓盤頂面上趴著呢。
Sure, this scatological costume might fool a bunch of PhDs.
是的，這種污穢式偽裝也許愚弄了一群博士。
But do the predatory wasps fall for it?
但捕獵的黃蜂是否會上這種當呢？
To find out, the researchers used a spectrometer to confirm that the spider in its web is spectrally indistinguishable from bird splat.
為了一探究竟，研究人員們使用一種光譜儀確認這些網上趴著的蛛蛛在光學角度從鳥糞中的確難以區分。
Then they changed the coloring of some webs by dusting them with carbon powder.
然后他們通過撒碳粉改變了蛛網的顏色。
And they found that spiders that rested on the artificially blackened silk were much more likely to get eaten.
于是他們發現在人工變黑過的絲網上的可憐蛛蛛們果然更容易被天敵們吃掉。
Now, these results don't prove that wasps buy the whole poop act.
現在，這些結論還不能證明黃蜂真的對這種大便保護色買賬。
Maybe spiders against the white background are just harder to spot.
也許只是蛛蛛們在白色布景下更不容易被發現。
To be more confident that looking like poop is key, researchers might test the wasps to find out if they're just glad they didn't step in it.
為了更好的證明偽裝成大便才是關鍵點，研究人員們也許會對黃蜂進行測試，觀察它們是否是真的不樂意沖進糞便里捕食。
