BBC 自然世界：沙漠蚂蚁帝国（2011）

有限的空间容不下它们全部
and there’s not enough room for all of them.
现在蜜蚁们的阴暗面暴露了出来
Now the darker side of honey ants emerges.
现在是畜栏蚁群优先发起暴♥动♥的时候了
It’s time for the Corral colony to mount a pre-emptive strike
针对离它最近的邻居
on its nearest neighbours.
它们因胜利而激动 预备好应对所有的来袭者
Flush with victory, they’re ready to take on all comers.
收获蚁的个头大而且下颌坚硬
Harvester ants are big and heavy-jawed.
但蜜蚁们会利用自己的体重进行冲撞
But honey ants punch well above their weight.
它们选择的武器？
Their weapons of choice?
锋利的下颌和到处喷洒的小滴蚁酸
Nipping jaws and formic acid sprayed in fine droplets
来自它们腹部的末端
from the tips of their abdomens.
所有碰到蚁酸的东西都会遭到毁灭性的影响
This has a devastating effect on anything it touches.
虽然仍只有几百只强壮的蚂蚁
Still only a few hundred strong,
畜栏蚁群已开始发挥它的力量
the Corral colony is starting to flex its muscles.
对蚁后们来说 加入同盟的好处是显而易见的
For the queens, the real benefits of joining the coalition are clear.
蚁多力量大
There’s strength in numbers
拥有最强火力的巢穴总会赢
and the nest with the most firepower always wins.
不久 畜栏蚁群已经摧毁了
Soon, the Corral colony has destroyed
附近其他的所有蜜蚁巢穴
all the other honey ant nests in the neighbourhood.
帝国的基础已然奠定
The foundations of the empire have been laid.
地下的情况也已经转向了一个更黑暗的方向
Underground too, events have taken a darker turn.
其中一只蚁后的尸体正躺在女王的房♥间中
One of the queens lies dead in the royal chamber.
原因不清楚 但工蚁们已经开始挑选
It’s not clear why. but the workers have started singling out
较弱的蚁后采取特殊的照顾
the weaker queens for special attention.
起初 一切都很微妙
At first, itfs all very subtle –
减少了某一只的喂食或清洁次数
one isn’t fed so often or cleaned as diligently.
但随后 工蚁们开始恐吓和骚扰被选中的牺牲者
But then, the workers start bullying and harassing their chosen victim.
最终 发动了直截了当的袭击
Finally, it spills over into direct attack
工蚁们将被选中的蚁后撕成碎片
and the workers tear the chosen queen to pieces.
什么都不能浪费 女王的尸体也是一样
Nothing can go to waste, even a royal carcass.
工蚁们将饥饿的幼虫搬去享用女王的尸体
Workers carry hungry larvae over to feast on the dead queen.
其中包括许多死去蚁后的后代
including many that must have been her own offspring.
几周以来 革命始终在继续
As the weeks pass, the revolution continues.
只有最具优势的女皇们不会被袭击
Only the most dominant royals seem immune to attack.
她们只是观察和等待
They just watch and wait
工蚁们所做的可怕的事情
as the workers go about their gruesome business.
冬天对峡谷的所有居民都意味着一段困飕时期
Winter means hard times for all the canyon’s inhabitants.
为了节约能量 蚁群多多少少停止了运转
To conserve energy, the colony has more or less shut down.
地面上没有任何生命出来收集食物
No-one ventures above ground to gather food,
几乎没有产卵 工蚁们的轮值也减少了
few eggs are being laid and the workers go onto reduced shifts.
它们能够在下面待六个月或者更长
They could be down here for six months or more,
在最贫乏的供应下勉强度日
eking out a living on the most meagre of supplies.
等到冬天结束的时候
By winter’s end.
只有两只最强壮的蚁后还能站起来
only the two strongest queens are left standing.
在一些蜜蚁巢穴中
In some honey ant nests,
多只蚁后可以很多年在一起协同工作
multiple.queens can work in coalition for years.
但这个巢穴不是
But not in this one.
到了决胜局的时刻了
It’s time for the final reckoning.
或许是在其中一只蚁后身上嗅到了软弱的气息
Perhaps sensing some weakness in one of the queens.
工蚁们爬过来杀了她
the workers move in for the kill.
比起缓慢 苟延残喘的死亡的
Compared with the slow, lingering death
在冬天较早的时候被消灭的蚁后们
of the queens purged earlier in the winter,
这是一场迅速而野蛮的暗♥杀♥
this is a swift and brutal assassination.
创建者现在完全掌握了巢穴的控制权
The founding queen now has complete control of the nest
几个月之前她开始挖掘
she began to dig all those months ago.
所有的工蚁 无论它们是谁的后代
All the workers, no matter who they are descended from.
必须对她忠心耿耿
must be loyal to her.
但成为绝对的统治者还不够
But to be absolute ruler is not enough.
她必须产下继承人
She needs to produce heirs,
为此她先要发展她的王朝
and to do that, she first needs to build up her empire.
春雨改变了马蹄峡谷
The spring rains have transformed Horseshoe canyon.
沙漠里的花朵提供了丰富的花蜜
The flush of desert flowers provides a rich supply of nectar.
蜂鸟是峡谷里更瞩目的来访者之一
Hummingbirds are one of the canyon’s more exotic visitors,
它们和太阳一同到来
jetting in with the sun.
到了畜栏蚁群重新露面的时候了
It’s time for the Corral colony to resurface
在经历了冬日的贫乏之后
after their winter of deprivation.
扩充的工蚁群每日离开巢穴去采集食物
The swelling ranks of workers leave the nest each day to gather food.
它们现在出没的区域
They now range over an area
有一个网球场那么大 花蜜是它们的主要食物
the size of a tennis court, and nectar is their main food.
蜜蚁的工蚁们腹部可以隆起
Honey ant workers have expandable abdomens,
像个储粮袋 让它们能够将液态的食物运回巢穴
reservoirs that allow them to carry liquid food back to the nest.
它们尽可能收集多的食物是至关重要的
It’s crucial they gather as much as they can
在这短暂的食物充沛期
during this brief period of plenty.
蜜蚁既是采集者也是放牧人
As well as being foragers, honey ants are also farmers.
它们会照料小型的蚜虫群
tending small herds of aphids.
蚜虫靠植物汁液为生
Aphids feed on plant sap.
多余的汁液会以糖一样的液体分泌出来 叫做蜜露
Any excess is excreted as a sugary liquid called honeydew.
蚜虫就像是蜜蚁们的奶牛
The honey ants ‘milk’ the aphids
蜜蚁们用它们的触角敲打蚜虫获取蜜汁
by stroking them with their antennae.
作为回报 蚂蚁们会提供保护
In return for this reward, the ants provide protection.
巢穴附近的这一行为
All this activity around the nest
引起了一些不受欢迎的注意
has attracted some very unwelcome attention.
一只冠状角蜥临时出现
A horned lizard has taken up temporary residence
在它们的门阶上
on their doorstep.
它一次可以吃掉成百只蚂蚁
It can eat hundreds of ants in a single sitting.
只有在阳光过强时它才会移♥动♥
It will only move on when the sun gets too hot
要不就是它吃饱了
or it’s eaten its fill.
但对蚁后来说 损失比补偿来得更大
But for the queen, these losses are more than offset
尽管地下深处的新工蚁不断生产出来
by the production of new workers deep underground.
现在她要采取一项新策略了
And now she’s starting a new strategy.
蚁后把精英们组成一支军队
The queen is putting together an army of specialists
那将是她日益壮大的王朝的脊梁
that will form the backbone of her growing empire.
以每小时产一个卵的速度
Pumping out an egg every hour,
蚁群现在的数量已经超过了一千
the colony now numbers over a thousand.
她的王国主要依靠信息素进行协调
Her kingdom is co-ordinated largely by pheromones,
复杂的化学混合物在蚂蚁的嘴之间传递
cocktails of complex chemicals passed from mouth to mouth.
它们习惯了在巢穴内指挥每一次行动
They are used to direct every activity within the nest.
在女王命令的影响下一些较大个的工蚁
Under the influence of these royal commands, some larger workers
将会在蚁群中扮演一个特殊的角色
are about to take on a very special role in the colony.
它们被归来的采集者挑出来
Returning foragers seek them out
强制喂食一堆花蜜
and force-feed them load after load of nectar.
它们的腹部会膨胀起来
Their abdomens become distended
直到变得和豌豆一样大
until they are the size of garden peas.
等它们装满了被称作贮蜜蚁的这些超大蚂蚁
As they fill, these super-sized ants called repletes haul themselves
会把自己拽到洞穴顶部以免受伤
onto the chamber roof to avoid being damaged.
它们在圈禁在自己的巢穴中
They become prisoners in their own nests.
一旦垂挂下来它们就会精炼花蜜
Once hanging, they refine the nectar.
去除水分把它炼成厚厚的糖蜜
removing water, concentrating it into a thick honey.
然后 在食物减少时
Then, when supplies run low
漫长的冬季 或者干旱的年份
during the long winter or in drought years.
这些活的食物储藏袋会吐出它们的食物
these living larders regurgitate their contents
以喂养饥饿的蚁群
to feed the hungry colony.
这就是蜜蚁解决沙漠生存问题的简单途径
It’s the honey ant’s elegant solution to desert survival.
贮蜜蚁是最大的蜜蚁工蚁 大多数工蚁则要小得多
Repletes are the largest honey ant workers, most are much smaller.
其中最小的那些致力于照料蚁后
The smallest of all devote themselves to caring for the queen.
其他必须非常细致地保持幼虫的洁净
Others must keep the larvae meticulously clean.
有一些成立了托儿所 按照年龄和大小挑选孵化的卵
Some organise the creches, sorting out the broods by age and size.
大一些的助产士会切开茧子帮助幼蚁出来
Larger midwives help cut the young ants from their cocoons.
但地下职业中最紧缺的是保育员
But the most demanding underground job is playing nursemaid,
幼蚁们总是挨饿
and these larvae are always hungry.
它们的大小决定了获得食物的数量和种类
The amount and type of food they receive determines their size
将来也会决定它们在劳动群中的位置
and hence, their position in the workforce.
蚁后现在掌管着一部可怕而高效的机器
The queen now heads a formidable and efficient machine.
但随着富饶的春季渐渐消逝
But as the riches of spring dwindle away,
这部机器逐渐停转
this machine is stalling.
亚利桑那州南部一年中的这个时节相当炎热
This time of year can be ferociously hot in southern Arizona.
尽管热度逼人
Despite the intense heat,
地上的工蚁们仍不得不持续地采集食物
the topside workers must keep foraging
满足蚁后不断膨胀的野心
to feed the queen’s soaring ambitions.
当花朵都凋零后 就没有多少可口的食物了
With the flowers gone, there are few easy meals left.
巢边的橡树现在成了工作的中心
The oak trees near the nest now become the focus of activity.