蛇形耧斗菜发现了一个精巧的方法来防御天敌。这种黏乎乎的草是绿棉铃虫(Heliothis phloxiphaga)幼虫最爱的零食，它们咀嚼它的芽、它的花、它的果实。但是，耧斗菜并不试图直接攻击这些令人毛骨悚然的爬虫，相反，它们发出一种化学信号，吸引蜻蜓、甲虫，以及其它昆虫前来。当这些昆虫踏上这种植物，它们就会被耧斗菜黏乎乎、毛绒绒的表面粘住(就像上图的甲虫那样)然后死亡，它们尸体从而将耧斗菜包裹起来。这些死尸反过来又吸引了像蜘蛛这样的肉食动物前来，它们在餐间也会消食这些绿棉铃幼虫。 (蜘蛛经过进化，已经不会被这种植物粘住。)还没有发现有其它植物物种采取这种对天敌的间接防守策略，研究人员在本月的《生态学》杂志上报告说。但文章的作者怀疑，如果再四处搜搜，生物学家也会发现其它采取类似策略的植物。

原文链接：

Plant coats itself in dead bodies to defend against pests

原文摘要：

The serpentine columbine has found an elaborate way to protect itself from predators. The sticky herb is a favorite snack of Heliothis phloxiphaga moth larvae, which munch its buds, flowers, and fruits. But instead of trying to attack the creepy-crawlies directly, the columbine sends out a chemical signal that attracts dragonflies, beetles, and other insects. When these bugs land on the plant, they get stuck on its sticky, hairy surface (as with the beetle pictured above) and die, coating the columbine with dead bodies. These bodies in turn attract meat eaters like spiders, which also consume the moth larvae while they’re noshing. (The spiders have evolved not to get stuck on the plant.) Such an indirect defense against predators has not been seen in any other plant species, researchers report this month in Ecology. But the authors suspect that, with a bit more looking, biologists will find similar strategies in other plants.