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Spiders eat a lot—like, as much or more than humans do.
蜘蛛的食量很大，甚至吃的比人类还多。
A study found the arachnids down between 400 million and 800 million metric tons of prey every year.
研究发现蜘蛛每年吞食掉4亿至8亿公吨的猎物。
Let's put that in perspective. Whales are thought to eat about 280 million to 500 million metric tons of prey a year. And humans eat around 400 million metric tons of meat and fish annually.
让我们客观来看，鲸鱼每年吃掉2亿8000万到5亿公吨的猎物。人类每年大约吃4亿公吨的肉和鱼。
If you're wondering why all of this matters, imagine if spiders didn't get rid of at least 400 million metric tons of bugs every year. Enough said.
如果你想知道为什么这一切那么重要，想象一下如果蜘蛛每年没有消灭掉至少4亿公吨的昆虫会怎么样。无须多讲。
But in more serious terms, this matters because scientists have quantified how big of a role the eight-legged critters play in the global ecosystem.
但更为重要的是，科学家已经量化了这个八条腿的动物在全球生态系统中起了多大作用。
And spiders are apparently pretty difficult to track. Some are nocturnal, and others are just really good at hiding.
显然，蜘蛛很难追踪。有些是夜行性的，其它一些则擅长隐藏。
Ultimately, the authors point out, these findings show spiders are "major natural enemies of insects" and help limit population sizes.
最后作者指出，这些发现表明蜘蛛是昆虫的主要天敌，有助于限制种群数量。
Another fun fact: Spiders have a population density up to 1,000 spiders per square meter. So there are probably a few around you right now.
另一个有趣的事实是蜘蛛的密度为每平方米高达1,000只蜘蛛。所以现在大概有几只就在你身边。
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
