世界上最大的文明
字幕摘录
| 时间 | 英文 | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| 0:16 | Imagine a civilization that outnumbers humanity by six orders of magnitude, | 想象一下一个文明 超过人类六个数量级, |
| 0:22 | by one and a half million times. | 一百五十万次, |
| 0:27 | And it's not some bacteria. | 这不是一些细菌。 |
| 0:30 | These creatures have created a fully functional social order. | 这些生物创造了一个充分运作的社会秩序. |
| 0:34 | They have a clear hierarchy, professions, and career ladders. | 他们有明确的等级、职业和职业阶梯。 |
| 0:40 | They are long past the hunting and gathering stage | 他们早已过了狩猎和采集阶段 |
| 0:43 | and have successfully transitioned to agriculture and animal husbandry. | 并成功地过渡到农业和畜牧业。 |
| 0:49 | They teach the youth, take care of the elderly and the disabled, and bury their dead. | 他们教导青年,照顾老人和残疾人,埋葬他们的死者. |
| 0:55 | They can even reproduce by cloning. | 它们甚至可以通过克隆繁殖. |
| 0:59 | They have easily outlived every single species that prevailed on their planet in the last hundred million years. | 过去一亿年里,它们很容易地 超越了地球上的每一个物种 |
展开字幕全文（288 条）
| 序号 | 英文 | 中文 |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Imagine a civilization that outnumbers humanity by six orders of magnitude, | 想象一下一个文明 超过人类六个数量级, |
| 2 | by one and a half million times. | 一百五十万次, |
| 3 | And it's not some bacteria. | 这不是一些细菌。 |
| 4 | These creatures have created a fully functional social order. | 这些生物创造了一个充分运作的社会秩序. |
| 5 | They have a clear hierarchy, professions, and career ladders. | 他们有明确的等级、职业和职业阶梯。 |
| 6 | They are long past the hunting and gathering stage | 他们早已过了狩猎和采集阶段 |
| 7 | and have successfully transitioned to agriculture and animal husbandry. | 并成功地过渡到农业和畜牧业。 |
| 8 | They teach the youth, take care of the elderly and the disabled, and bury their dead. | 他们教导青年,照顾老人和残疾人,埋葬他们的死者. |
| 9 | They can even reproduce by cloning. | 它们甚至可以通过克隆繁殖. |
| 10 | They have easily outlived every single species that prevailed on their planet in the last hundred million years. | 过去一亿年里,它们很容易地 超越了地球上的每一个物种 |
| 11 | But at the same time, a simple infection can turn them into real zombies. | 但与此同时,简单的感染可以把他们变成真正的僵尸. |
| 12 | Does it seem like some post-apocalyptic science fiction to you? | 你觉得这看起来像是后期科幻小说吗? |
| 13 | And yet, it's not. | 然则不然. |
| 14 | It's all about ants. | 皆以蚂蚁为主. |
| 15 | In this video, you'll find out how many ants there are on Earth, | 在这个视频中,你会发现地球上有多少蚂蚁, |
| 16 | how much they weigh, when they emerge, how they live, how they practice agriculture, | 他们的体重,当他们出现, 他们如何生活, 他们如何从事农业, |
| 17 | why their society resembles human civilization, | 为什么他们的社会 像人类文明, |
| 18 | and much more that will surprise and even shock you. | 更能让你惊讶 甚至震惊 |
| 19 | Ants. | 蚂蚁. |
| 20 | We've all seen ants and may have a vague idea of how many ants there are on the planet. | 我们都见过蚂蚁,也许对地球上有多少蚂蚁有模糊的认识. |
| 21 | But few people are even approximately close in their estimation | 但很少有人接近他们的估计 |
| 22 | because the real numbers are somewhat mind-blowing. | 因为真实的数字有点让人心碎 |
| 23 | Today, there are 14,218 species of ants alone, | 今天,只有14,218个蚂蚁物种 |
| 24 | and this is not considering the additional 1,758 subspecies. | 而这并不考虑新增的1,758个亚种. |
| 25 | Nobody really knows the total number of these creatures. | 没有人真正知道这些生物的总数。 |
| 26 | Most commonly, the ant population is estimated to be at about 10 quadrillions. | 最常见的是,蚂蚁种群估计为10倍。 |
| 27 | That is, 10,000 trillion individuals. | 也就是说,10,000万亿个人。 |
| 28 | Yes, I know, it's hard to wrap your head around this figure. | 是的,我知道,很难把你的头 围绕这个数字。 |
| 29 | In total, this giant biomass weighs approximately tens of billions of kilograms. | 这个巨大的生物量总重约数百亿公斤。 |
| 30 | What's interesting is that this figure exceeds the total weight of humanity | 有趣的是 这个数字超过了人类的总重量 |
| 31 | as far back as 2,000 years ago. | 早在两千年前 |
| 32 | Ants inhabit all corners of the planet and all continents except Antarctica. | 蚂蚁栖息于地球各个角落和除南极洲外的所有大陆. |
| 33 | They emerged about 110 to 130 million years ago, | 它们出现于约1.1亿到1.3亿年前, |
| 34 | probably in the Laurasia supercontinent. | 也许在劳拉西亚超级大陆。 |
| 35 | Historically, they come from ancient wasps, | 历史上,它们来自古老的黄蜂, |
| 36 | but scientists haven't yet identified any specific wasp species as their ancestors. | 但科学家还没有确定 任何特定的黄蜂物种是他们的祖先。 |
| 37 | And despite ants' close resemblance to termites, the two shouldn't be confused. | 尽管蚂蚁与白蚁相似,但两者不应该混淆. |
| 38 | Termites aren't even related to them | 白蚁和它们没有关系 |
| 39 | and are closer to cockroaches based on their family tree. | 更接近蟑螂的家谱 |
| 40 | Ants can vary in size by an order of magnitude. | 蚂蚁的大小可以因数量顺序而异. |
| 41 | The smallest is about 2 millimeters long, | 最小的约2毫米长, |
| 42 | and the largest species can reach several centimeters. | 而最大的物种可以达到数厘米. |
| 43 | 历史上最大的化石蚁属(学名:Genus formicium). | |
| 44 | Their females reach 7 centimeters long, with a wingspan of up to 15 centimeters. | 其雌性长7厘米,翼展可达15厘米. |
| 45 | Yes, ants have wings, and we aren't talking about different species. | 是的,蚂蚁有翅膀,我们不是在谈论不同的物种。 |
| 46 | In general, all ants belong to the Hymenoptera order, | 一般来说,所有的蚂蚁都属于Hymenoptera秩序, |
| 47 | which might give it away, as terra means a wing in Latin. | 它可能会让它消失, 因为terra在拉丁语中的意思是翅膀。 |
| 48 | But for the most part, only females and males have wings, and worker ants are wingless. | 但大多数情况下,只有雌雄都有翅膀,工人的蚂蚁没有翅膀. |
| 49 | Hold on, what? | 坚持住,什么? |
| 50 | Does it mean that workers are neither females nor males? | 这是否意味着工人既不是女性,也不是男性? |
| 51 | That's not a mistake, as we deliberately distinguish between worker ants, males, and females. | 这不是一个错误,因为我们故意区分 工人的蚂蚁,雄性,雌性。 |
| 52 | In fact, worker ants are technically females, | 实际上,从技术上讲,工作蚂蚁是女性, |
| 53 | but they have an underdeveloped reproductive system, which effectively renders them asexual. | 但他们的生殖系统不健全,这实际上使他们变得无性。 |
| 54 | How do they reproduce, then? | 他们怎么繁殖的? |
| 55 | Well, they don't. | 嗯,他们没有。 |
| 56 | In the ant community, reproduction is a privilege, an honor, and a great responsibility. | 在蚁族中,繁殖是一种特权,是一种荣誉,也是巨大的责任. |
| 57 | Having this privilege doesn't have to do with being the fittest or strongest one, but comes by birth. | 拥有这种特权与最适者或最强者无关,而是生而来. |
| 58 | Being a highly diverse species, ants have many reproductive strategies. | 作为高度多样化的物种,蚂蚁有许多繁殖策略. |
| 59 | The most common one is the usual mating of a male with a female, | 最常见的是雄性与雌性交配, |
| 60 | but this seems ordinary only at first glance. | 不过这看起来只是一眼而已 |
| 61 | In fact, ant reproduction is filled with such a powerful mix of drama, romance, and grotesque, | 事实上,蚂蚁繁殖 充满了如此强大的 戏剧,浪漫,和怪异的混合, |
| 62 | that people never dreamed of. | 人们从未梦想过 |
| 63 | It all starts with the nuptial flight. | 都从婚礼开始 |
| 64 | This is a special time for insects when new colonies appear at all planet latitudes where comes the spring. | 这是昆虫的特殊时期 当所有星球的纬度出现新的殖民地时 春天将到来 |
| 65 | Winged females and males leave the nest to mate and form new families. | 翼雌雄离巢交配,形成新家庭. |
| 66 | This is the only time in the life of ants when they use their wings for their intended purpose. | 这是蚂蚁生命中唯一一次利用翅膀达到预定目的. |
| 67 | Ant wings are clumsy and function poorly. | 蚂蚁翅膀笨拙,功能不良. |
| 68 | Females often climb high plant stems and use them as a launching pad to start their flight. | 雌鸟经常攀登高植株茎,并用作开始飞行的发射台. |
| 69 | Males are more agile and often take off directly from the ground. | 雄性更敏捷,经常直接从地面起飞. |
| 70 | Mating itself happens in the air, right in mid-flight. | 搭配本身发生在空中, 正中飞行。 |
| 71 | Yes, nature is sometimes that romantic. | 是的,自然有时是那么浪漫。 |
| 72 | But that's where the romance ends. | 但爱情就是这样结束的 |
| 73 | After mating, the male no longer has any life purpose and soon dies. | 交配后,雄性不再有任何生命目的,很快死亡. |
| 74 | What does the female do? | 雌鸟是做什么的? |
| 75 | She flies away from her former home. | 她飞离她以前的家 |
| 76 | Upon landing, it immediately bites off its own wings. | 降落后,它立即咬断自己的翅膀. |
| 77 | What for? | 为什么? |
| 78 | Because she doesn't need them anymore. | 因为她不再需要了 |
| 79 | The female is fertilized only once in her life. | 雌性一生只受一次精. |
| 80 | There will never be a second flight. | 永远不会有第二次飞行。 |
| 81 | Ever. | 从来没有。 |
| 82 | The future queen begins to look for a place to form a new colony. | 未来的女王开始寻找一个地方来组成一个新的殖民地. |
| 83 | The genetic material left by the male is enough for the female to lay fertilized eggs throughout her life. | 雄性留下的遗传物质足以让雌性终生产下受精卵. |
| 84 | And queens live for a very long time. | 女王们活了很久 |
| 85 | Up to 12 to 20 years, depending on the species. | 根据物种的不同,最长可达12至20年. |
| 86 | Simple worker ants live no more than five years. | 简单工人蚂蚁的寿命不超过5年。 |
| 87 | However, it's worth noting that such breeding patterns are typical for most ant species, but not all. | 然而,值得注意的是,这种繁殖模式对于大多数蚂蚁物种来说是典型的,但不是所有的. |
| 88 | In some species, workers can also mate and produce offspring. | 在一些物种中,工人也可以交配和产生后代. |
| 89 | And in some species, hit the other extreme and reproduce by cloning. | 在一些物种中,通过克隆来复制和复制。 |
| 90 | No, no laboratories or test tubes. | 不,没有实验室或测试管。 |
| 91 | But the idea is somewhat similar. | 但这个想法有点相似. |
| 92 | 例如,一种叫做Mycosporus smithii的物种通过部分起源繁殖. | |
| 93 | In this type of reproduction, females emerge from unfertilized eggs. | 在此类繁殖中,雌性从未受精卵中产生. |
| 94 | And these are not some extra eggs that the males didn't have time to get to. | 这些不是那些雄性没有时间得到的额外鸡蛋。 |
| 95 | The thing is that there is no one to fertilize them. | 事情是没有人能受精 |
| 96 | There are simply no males. | 根本就没有男性 |
| 97 | In the process of evolution, the species deem them to be non-essential. | 在进化过程中,该物种认为它们不是必需的. |
| 98 | 当在亚马逊盆地发现Mycosporus smithii的殖民地时, | |
| 99 | scientists were amazed at this turn of natural evolution. | 科学家们对自然进化的转变感到惊讶。 |
| 100 | All individuals in the discovered colony were females, | 发现的殖民地上的所有个体都是女性 |
| 101 | and all of them were exact copies of the same queen, and naturally, each other. | 并且他们都是同一个皇后的准确副本, 自然,彼此。 |
| 102 | The data was published in a report by the research team in Proceedings of the Royal Society. | 数据发表在皇家学会议事录研究组的一份报告中. |
| 103 | The researchers admitted that they stumbled upon this amazing fact by accident. | 研究人员承认,他们偶然地发现了这个惊人的事实。 |
| 104 | They noticed that the males were missing while studying other aspects of this species' life. | 他们注意到雄性在研究本物种生活的其他方面时失踪. |
| 105 | Not being able to identify males in the nest based on external signs, | 无法根据外表识别雄性 |
| 106 | scientists conducted a DNA analysis of the individuals they collected. | 科学家对他们收集的个人进行了DNA分析。 |
| 107 | They found that all of them were indeed females, and that they were all queen clones. | 他们发现他们都是女性, 他们都是皇后克隆人。 |
| 108 | After that, scientists found that the most important reproductive organ in a queen, | 之后,科学家们发现 皇后最重要的生殖器官, |
| 109 | the copulatory bag, has completely lost its function. | 混凝土袋,已经完全失去功能。 |
| 110 | However, several years later, large-scale research revealed | 然而,几年后,大规模的研究揭示了 |
| 111 | that individual populations of this species didn't completely lose sexual reproduction. | 这个物种的个体 并没有完全失去性繁殖。 |
| 112 | But this doesn't change anything, since 90% of all selected individuals | 但这并不改变任何东西, 因为90%的人被选中 |
| 113 | in all of South and Central America turned out to be clones. | 整个南美洲和中美洲 都变成了克隆人 |
| 114 | Coming from different queens, but still clones. | 来自于不同的皇后,但仍是克隆人. |
| 115 | 这意味着Mycoseparis smithii最终选择了它的繁殖方法. | |
| 116 | But it can be a tragic mistake, because this reproduction method can't provide sufficient diversity. | 但这可能是一个悲剧性的错误,因为这种复制方法不能提供足够的多样性. |
| 117 | The species becomes extremely vulnerable to external threats, and may face rapid extinction. | 该物种极易受外部威胁的影响,可能面临迅速灭绝。 |
| 118 | However, the disappearance of one species doesn't affect the stability of the ant kingdom as a whole. | 然而,一个物种的消失并不影响整个蚂蚁王国的稳定. |
| 119 | These guys easily outlive the dinosaurs, so they're unlikely to be seriously endangered. | 这些人很容易比恐龙活得更久 所以他们不太可能面临严重危险 |
| 120 | And given how ant society works, it's time to think that these guys may well build some kind of alternative civilization. | 鉴于蚂蚁社会是如何运作的, 是时候认为这些家伙可以建立某种替代文明。 |
| 121 | In terms of social structure, ants are the closest to humans on Earth. | 在社会结构方面,蚂蚁最接近地球上的人类. |
| 122 | Each new discovery in Myrmecology, the science of ants, proves this once and again. | Myrmecology的每一个新发现,蚂蚁的科学,都一次又一次地证明了这一点. |
| 123 | The ant hill has a strict hierarchy, and distribution of roles. | 蚂蚁山有严格的等级,角色分布. |
| 124 | The nest is managed by the queen, the founder of the colony, who lays eggs. | 巢穴由女王,殖民地的创始人管理,他产卵. |
| 125 | The queen is surrounded by a retinue of 10-12 worker ants, | 皇后周围是10 -12个工人蚂蚁 |
| 126 | who serve her by feeding and taking care of her in every possible way. | 以各种方式供养和照顾她 |
| 127 | As a rule, mostly young ants do this. | 通常,大多数年轻蚂蚁都这样做. |
| 128 | This is literally a kind of social practice that all nest inhabitants go through for about a month. | 这实际上是一种社会实践, 所有巢穴居民都经历大约一个月。 |
| 129 | The task of such trainees is to take care of the queen, eggs, or larvae. | 这种学员的任务是照顾王后,卵,或幼虫. |
| 130 | Mature individuals go to the farthest part of the ant hill patrolling area, where they engage in foraging. | 成熟的个人前往蚂蚁山巡逻区最远的地方进行觅食. |
| 131 | The ant brings the food it has found to the authorities, | 蚂蚁把发现的食物带给当局 |
| 132 | who decide how it gets distributed throughout the ant hill. | 谁决定如何在蚂蚁山上分布? |
| 133 | In addition to food, the ant hill is also fed with a special pheromone, | 除食物外,蚂蚁山还配有一种特殊的激素, |
| 134 | an odorous substance secreted by the queen. | 一种被女王隐藏的令人发指的物质 |
| 135 | It contains information about her health. | 它包含了有关她健康的信息。 |
| 136 | Ants from the retinue lick this substance from the queen, | 继续的蚂蚁从皇后那里舔这种物质, |
| 137 | carry it in a special goiter, and pass it on to each other one by one. | 用特殊的甲状腺球菌来携带,并互相传递. |
| 138 | Thus, all individuals of the ant society are connected to one information space, | 因此,蚂蚁社会的所有个体都与一个信息空间相连, |
| 139 | a small-town social network of ants, if you will. | 一个小城镇的蚂蚁社会网络,如果你愿意的话。 |
| 140 | What's interesting about ants' life is how they bring up their offspring. | 蚂蚁的生活有趣的是它们如何抚养后代. |
| 141 | Ants can learn interactively, that is, acquire knowledge based on someone else's experience rather than their own mistakes. | 蚂蚁可以交互学习,即根据别人的经验而不是他们自己的错误获得知识. |
| 142 | This is generally something extraordinary for insects. | 这对昆虫来说一般都是不寻常的 |
| 143 | The most experienced and tough forager hunter is the first to attack the prey. | 最有经验且最强硬的预言猎人是第一个攻击猎物的人. |
| 144 | It shows the young its skills on how to attack, sting, and kill. | 它向年轻人展示了他们如何攻击、刺痛和杀戮的技能。 |
| 145 | That's how it teaches the younger generation hunting skills. | 这就是它教导年轻一代狩猎技能的方法. |
| 146 | But in order to learn successfully, one needs to have a good memory. | 但为了成功学习,需要有一个良好的记忆. |
| 147 | And the ants can't complain. | 而蚁不能诉. |
| 148 | Active foragers who look for food on their own can perfectly know their hunting area and remember how to get home. | 主动寻找食物的觅食者可以完全了解自己的狩猎区域,并记得如何回家. |
| 149 | If the ant path is blocked by an intricate labyrinth, | 如果蚂蚁的路径被一个复杂的迷宫挡住了 |
| 150 | the foragers will eventually find a passage after wandering through some nooks and crannies. | 觅食者最终会找到一条通道 穿过一些角落和角落 |
| 151 | And then they remember the labyrinth path for at least four days, | 然后,他们记得迷宫路径 至少四天, |
| 152 | even if they have to stay put due to bad weather during this time. | 即使他们在这段时间里因为天气不好而不得不留在原地 |
| 153 | Ants have a good sense of time and effectively use it. | 蚂蚁有良好的时间感和有效利用. |
| 154 | If a feeder is placed strictly at a certain time near the ant path, | 如果一个支线被严格安置在靠近蚂蚁路径的某个时间, |
| 155 | the foragers will quickly remember the time when the food appears and will gather at this site just in time. | 饲料者会很快记住食物出现的时间 并及时聚集在这个地点 |
| 156 | If the feeding stops, the ants will still come to this place for another five days at the very same time. | 如果喂食停止,蚂蚁仍然会在同一时间再来这个地方五天. |
| 157 | Fiddle ants are very well organized. | 小蚂蚁组织得很好 |
| 158 | At the first warning signal, they only prepare the family property for moving. | 在第一个警告信号时,他们只准备家产移动. |
| 159 | They bring the larvae and pupae to the exit and only a small part to the surface. | 它们将幼虫和幼虫带到出口,只有一小部分到达表面. |
| 160 | As if hoping for a false alarm, the ants don't actually start fleeing until the danger is confirmed. | 仿佛希望有假警报,蚂蚁们实际上不会开始逃跑,直到危险得到确认. |
| 161 | Given such a complex interaction, how do thousands of ants manage to communicate effectively? | 鉴于这种复杂的相互作用,成千上万的蚂蚁如何有效地沟通? |
| 162 | How do they know where to go, what to do, and how do they remember all this data? | 他们怎么知道去哪里,做什么, 和他们如何记得所有这些数据? |
| 163 | In fact, they don't have to remember anything, and their communication methods are much richer than they seem. | 事实上,他们什么都不要记得,他们的交流方法比看上去要丰富得多. |
| 164 | Ants don't have ears as humans do. | 蚂蚁没有人类那样的耳朵. |
| 165 | They hear by measuring vibrations. | 他们通过测量振动来听到。 |
| 166 | Special knee and leg sensors help them pick up the vibrations around. | 特殊的膝盖和腿部感应器 帮助他们捡起周围的振动。 |
| 167 | Some ants make sounds by stridulation, a characteristic chirping produced with the stomach and jaw segments. | 一些蚂蚁通过结扎来发出声音,这种特征性的鸣叫与胃部和下巴部分产生. |
| 168 | Sounds can be used to communicate with the colony members or even with other species. | 声音可以用来与殖民地成员沟通,甚至与其他物种沟通. |
| 169 | But perhaps the main communication method is the smell. | 但也许主要的沟通方法是嗅觉. |
| 170 | Ants leave pheromone traces on the soil surface, which are easily picked up by other individuals. | 蚂蚁在土壤表面留下了激素的痕迹,这些痕迹很容易被其他个体拾取. |
| 171 | In species that feed in groups, the foraging ants mark the trail on its way back to the colony after finding something tasty. | 在以组为食的物种中,觅食蚂蚁在发现一些美味的东西后,标记了返回殖民地途中的踪迹. |
| 172 | Other ants follow this trail and reinforce it with their pheromones when they go back to the colony with food. | 其他蚂蚁沿着这条小径走,在它们带着食物返回殖民地时用它们的费洛蒙强化它. |
| 173 | When the food source runs out, the returning ants leave no new trails, and the smell slowly dissipates. | 食物来源耗尽后,返回的蚂蚁没有留下新的踪迹,气味慢慢消散. |
| 174 | This behavior helps the ants cope with environmental changes. | 这种行为有助于蚂蚁应付环境的变化. |
| 175 | For example, when an established path to a food source is blocked by an obstacle, foragers leave that path to explore new routes. | 例如,当通往食物来源的既定路径被障碍阻挡时,觅食者离开该路径去探索新的路径. |
| 176 | If successful, the ant leaves a new trail, indicating the shortest path on its return. | 如果成功,蚂蚁会留下新的踪迹,表明其返回的最短路径. |
| 177 | Successful trails are followed by more ants who reinforce the best routes. | 继成功之后,更多的蚂蚁加强了最佳路线。 |
| 178 | This is how ants form their famous trails. | 蚂蚁就是这样形成他们著名的踪迹的. |
| 179 | Ants use pheromones for more than just trails. | 蚂蚁们用费洛莫内斯 不仅仅是小径 |
| 180 | A squashed ant emits an alarm pheromone that drives nearby ants into an attack frenzy and attracts ants from afar. | 一只被压扁的蚂蚁释放出一个警报费洛蒙 驱使附近的蚂蚁进入攻击狂热 并吸引蚂蚁从远处。 |
| 181 | Some ant species even use misleading pheromones to confuse enemy ants and cause them to attack each other. | 一些蚂蚁物种甚至使用误导的费洛莫内斯来混淆敌蚁,引起它们互相攻击. |
| 182 | Pheromones are produced by many structures in the ants' bodies. | 费洛莫内斯由蚂蚁体内的许多结构产生. |
| 183 | Dufour's glands, venom glands, as well as the glands in the hindgut, coccyx, rectum, sternum, and hind leg are all used for pheromone communication. | Dufour的腺体,毒液腺体,以及后腺,coccyx,直肠,胸腺,和后腿的腺体,都用于激素的交流. |
| 184 | Ants also exchange pheromones with each other, mixing them with food, thereby transmitting information within the colony. | 蚂蚁还互相交换费洛蒙,将其与食物混合,从而在殖民地内部传递信息. |
| 185 | This allows other ants to determine which task group other family members belong to. | 这使得其他蚂蚁可以确定其他家庭成员属于哪个任务组. |
| 186 | Also, some ant types have more than one queen in the colony, but a whole cast of queens. | 另外,一些蚂蚁类型在殖民地中拥有不止一个女王,但拥有完整的王后铸造. |
| 187 | And when the dominant queen stops producing a specific pheromone, it signals a change in power. | 而当占优势的女王停止生产特定的激素时,它就标志着权力的变化. |
| 188 | The workers begin to take care of another queen, who becomes the dominant one. | 工人开始照顾另一个王后,她成为统治者. |
| 189 | The variety of communication modes combined with tiny but extremely rational brains give ants an amazing advantage in building a civilization-like society. | 各种交流模式与微小但极其理性的大脑相结合,使蚂蚁在建设文明社会方面获得了惊人的优势. |
| 190 | Being infinitely far from higher mammals, and especially people, ants nonetheless turn out to be capable of agriculture and animal breeding, in the most real sense of the word. | 蚂蚁与更高层次的哺乳动物,尤其是人, 相距甚远, 但从最真实的意义上讲, 蚂蚁仍然能够从事农业和动物饲养。 |
| 191 | Most ants are generic predators, scavengers, and herbivores. | 大多数蚂蚁都是一般的捕食者,食腐动物,以及食草动物. |
| 192 | Many herbivorous ant species rely on a unique symbiosis with their own gut microbes to enhance the nutritional value of the plant food they harvest. | 许多草食性蚂蚁物种依靠自己肠道微生物的独特共生,以提高其收获的植物食物的营养价值. |
| 193 | But many ant species have achieved some remarkable results by following the path that was once chosen by humans. | 但许多蚂蚁物种通过走人类曾经选择的道路取得了一些显著的成果. |
| 194 | Specifically, ants have developed their own brand of agriculture. | 具体来说,蚂蚁发展了自己的农业品牌. |
| 195 | This practice has spread so widely that ant farming can now be clearly classified. | 这种做法已广为传播,现在可以明确划分蚂蚁养殖的类别. |
| 196 | The most primitive, lower agriculture was mastered by 80 ant species. | 最原始的下层农业由80个蚂蚁物种掌握. |
| 197 | 34 species of ants grow coral mushrooms for their needs. | 34种蚂蚁根据需要种植珊瑚蘑菇. |
| 198 | And 18 species practice yeast breeding. | 还有18个物种练习酵母繁殖. |
| 199 | Finally, 63 ant species have mastered higher agriculture. | 最后,63个蚂蚁物种掌握了较高的农业. |
| 200 | They learn to grow mushrooms and create entire mushroom gardens. | 他们学会种植蘑菇,创造整个蘑菇园. |
| 201 | What's even more surprising, some special mushroom varieties have emerged that were literally domesticated by generations of ants. | 更令人惊讶的是,出现了一些特殊的蘑菇品种,这些品种被几代蚂蚁驯化。 |
| 202 | These mushrooms can no longer survive in the wild, but only at ant farms, under the watchful care of these amazing creatures. | 这些蘑菇已经无法在野外生存,而只能在蚂蚁养殖场生存,受到这些惊人生物的监视. |
| 203 | A colony of leaf-cutting ants represents a good example of such agriculture. | 割叶蚁群是这种农业的一个良好例子。 |
| 204 | They arrange entire mushroom plantations and use finely chopped leaves as a substrate. | 它们安排整个蘑菇种植场,使用细切的切叶作为底片. |
| 205 | Yes, you heard that right. | 是的,你说得对。 |
| 206 | The ants bring the leaves to the colony and cut them into small pieces to use as fertilizer. | 蚂蚁将叶子带到聚居地,切成小块作为肥料使用. |
| 207 | And even in agriculture, ants retain a clear specialization and a set of professions. | 即使在农业领域,蚂蚁也保留着明显的专业化和一套职业. |
| 208 | Basically, an ant's job depends on the size of the individual. | 基本上,蚂蚁的工作取决于个体的大小. |
| 209 | The larger workers cut the stems. | 较大的工人砍断了树根. |
| 210 | Smaller individuals gnaw the leaves into pieces. | 较小的个体把叶子割成碎片。 |
| 211 | And the smallest tend to the plantation. | 而最小的则倾向于种植. |
| 212 | They even protect mushrooms from harmful bacteria. | 它们甚至保护蘑菇免受有害细菌的感染. |
| 213 | The bacteria that produce substances that act as an antibiotic against other bacteria that are dangerous to fungi live on the outer surface of the ant's body. | 产生具有抗生素作用的物质来对抗其他对真菌有危险的细菌的细菌,生活在蚁体的外表面. |
| 214 | Leaf-cutter ants are sensitive enough to recognize the fungus' reaction to various plant materials by picking up mushrooms' chemical signals. | 叶裂蚁的敏感度足以通过采集蘑菇的化学信号来识别真菌对各种植物材料的反应. |
| 215 | If a certain type of leaf is found to be toxic to fungi, the colony will remember it and won't pick it again. | 如果发现一定种类的叶子对真菌有毒,那么殖民地会记住它,不会再选. |
| 216 | Such a high level of self-organization of ant communities can shock almost anyone. | 如此高水平的蚂蚁社区自我组织,几乎可以震惊任何人. |
| 217 | As if this wasn't enough, the ants went one step further. | 仿佛这还不够,蚂蚁走了一步. |
| 218 | How do you like the fact that ants have also managed to master animal husbandry? | 你喜欢蚂蚁也掌握了畜牧业吗? |
| 219 | Part of being active and formidable predators, especially considering their size, ants have learned to keep livestock. | 蚂蚁已经学会养殖牲畜了 特别是考虑到它们的体型 |
| 220 | But instead of cattle, they breed aphids, who secrete special nectar called honeydew, which is a valuable high-energy food. | 但是它们不是养牛,而是养殖phi虫,它们分泌特殊的花蜜,称为蜂蜜杜鹃,是一种宝贵的高能食物. |
| 221 | Ants graze aphids on nearby plants and take care of them, protecting them from other predators. | 蚂蚁在附近的植物上放牧phi虫,并照顾它们,保护它们免受其他食肉动物的侵害. |
| 222 | They learn not only to collect the nectar secreted by aphids, but also to literally milk these tiny insects. | 他们不仅学会了收集被phi虫分泌的花蜜, 并且从字面上将这些微小的昆虫挤奶. |
| 223 | To milk an aphid, the ant tickles its abdomen with its antennae, and the aphid obediently releases excess nectar at the ant's first request. | 蚂蚁用天线将它的腹部挠痒,而蚂蚁听命于蚂蚁第一次请求时会释放多余的花蜜. |
| 224 | Interestingly, this doesn't even come close to parasitism, since without ants' care, aphids die much sooner from other predators. | 有趣的是,这甚至不接近寄生虫, 因为如果没有蚂蚁的照顾, 蚯蚓会从其他捕食者那里更快死亡。 |
| 225 | When migrating to another area, many ant colonies take aphid herds with them. | 当迁徙到另一个地区时,许多蚂蚁殖民地会带着phi群. |
| 226 | The parallels with our animal farming are quite obvious here. | 这里与我们的养殖动物的相似之处相当明显。 |
| 227 | Looking at all these achievements, one might think that ants represent some kind of flawless life form. | 看看所有这些成就,人们可能会认为蚂蚁代表着某种无瑕疵的生命形态. |
| 228 | They have an invincible, incredibly precise, and rational collective consciousness. | 他们有一个不可战胜的,令人难以置信的精确, 和理性的集体意识。 |
| 229 | However, their way of life only seems to be flawless at first sight, as it has some major downsides. | 然而,他们的生活方式初看起来似乎没有缺陷,因为它有一些重大的缺点。 |
| 230 | And when taken collectively, these downsides may sometimes lead to a full-blown tragedy. | 而当集体采取时,这些缺点有时可能导致一场全面悲剧. |
| 231 | Look at this. | 看看这个。 |
| 232 | What's this? | 这是什么? |
| 233 | Are the ants celebrating something? | 蚂蚁在庆祝什么吗? |
| 234 | Wedding? | 婚礼? |
| 235 | Or perhaps a ritual dance? | 或者是仪式舞? |
| 236 | No, this is the so-called death circle. | 不,这是所谓的死亡圈子。 |
| 237 | Almost all of these ants will soon die. | 这些蚂蚁几乎都会很快死去. |
| 238 | They will continuously spin in this deadly circle to the point of complete exhaustion. | 它们会在这个致命的圈子中不断旋转到完全耗尽的地步. |
| 239 | But what for? | 但为什么? |
| 240 | And why? | 为什么? |
| 241 | In reality, this phenomenon occurs due to a system error. | 在现实中,这种现象由于系统错误而发生. |
| 242 | Remember, we've mentioned how well pheromone trail marking works for ants. | 记住,我们提到过 费洛蒙踪迹标记对蚂蚁有多有效 |
| 243 | But even though developed through millions of years of evolution, this system might play a cruel joke on the ants. | 但是,尽管这个系统通过数百万年的进化发展出来,但可能会在蚂蚁身上扮演一个残酷的笑话. |
| 244 | If a group of ants make several turns in the same direction along the route, | 如果一群蚂蚁沿着路线朝同一方向转几圈 |
| 245 | they may stumble upon its own odor trail left just a minute ago. | 他们可能会在一分钟前留下的 自己的气味小径上掉下来 |
| 246 | After walking along the path, the insect makes the same turns again, going back to the same point. | 沿路行走后,昆虫再次做出相同的转折,回到同一点. |
| 247 | And the cycle repeats over and over again. | 而循环反复. |
| 248 | The most annoying thing is that when following their own footsteps many times, the ants keep on secreting pheromones. | 最令人烦恼的是,当蚂蚁多次追随自己的脚步时,它们会不断对费洛蒙进行密闭. |
| 249 | In doing so, they reinforce this vicious circle and their own confidence that they're going in the right direction. | 通过这样做,他们强化了这种恶性循环和他们自己对朝正确方向前进的信心. |
| 250 | These cheerful and unsuspecting ants are joined by their friends who have absolutely no idea as to what caused this massive procession. | 这些欢乐和无疑的蚂蚁与他们的朋友们会合,他们完全不知道是什么导致了这场大规模的游行. |
| 251 | The result of this march is easily predictable. | 这次游行的结果很容易预测. |
| 252 | Thousands of individuals die from exhaustion in this deadly dance. | 在这场致命的舞蹈中,成千上万的人死于疲惫。 |
| 253 | Only an accidental external intervention can save them. | 只有偶然的外部干预才能拯救他们。 |
| 254 | The largest death circle was observed by the U.S. traveler William Beebe in 1921 in Guyana. | 美国旅行家威廉·比贝于1921年在圭亚那观测到了最大的死亡圈. |
| 255 | He claimed that Isatan ants created a 365-meter-wide circle, and their self-destructive march lasted two days. | 他声称伊萨坦蚂蚁创造了一个365米宽的圆圈,他们自毁的进军持续了两天. |
| 256 | By the way, such whirlwinds aren't that rare, and almost all types of ants can be sucked into the death circle. | 顺便说一句,这种旋风并不罕见,几乎所有种类的蚂蚁都可以吸入死亡圈. |
| 257 | Unfortunately, ants do this as a part of ingrained behavior patterns. | 不幸的是,蚂蚁这样做是内在行为模式的一部分. |
| 258 | Such accidents happen all the time, wherever there are several ant trails nearby. | 这种事故经常发生,只要附近有几条蚂蚁小径。 |
| 259 | However, we simply walk by most of them, and often only a few individuals fall into the trap. | 然而,我们只是走过他们中的大多数,而且往往只有少数人落入陷阱。 |
| 260 | On open and flat terrains, such circles may reach truly gigantic proportions. | 在开放和平坦的地形上,这种圆圈可能达到真正的巨大程度。 |
| 261 | And it looks creepy. | 看起来很恐怖 |
| 262 | The ants behave like some kind of zombie. | 蚂蚁的行为就像僵尸 |
| 263 | But did you know that ants can actually become zombies? | 你知道蚂蚁会变成僵尸吗? |
| 264 | No kidding. | 别开玩笑了 |
| 265 | A typical zombie apocalypse scenario we see in movies is an infection that turns people into creepy mindless creatures. | 我们在电影中看到的典型的僵尸启示录 是一种将人变成恐怖的无脑生物的感染。 |
| 266 | But nature has a similar eerie scenario. | 但自然界也有类似的易怒情景. |
| 267 | This is cordyceps lopsided. | 这是腰膜侧。 |
| 268 | It seems to be a harmless fungus. | 它似乎是一种无害的真菌. |
| 269 | But if ants had dreams, this fungus would surely be their worst nightmare. | 但是如果蚂蚁有梦想,这种真菌肯定是他们最糟糕的噩梦. |
| 270 | Being infected with the spores of this fungus is the most terrible thing that can happen to an ant. | 感染这种真菌的孢子是蚂蚁最可怕的事. |
| 271 | What's even worse, the parasite affects the victim's sense of smell, its main communication channel. | 更糟糕的是,寄生虫会影响受害者的嗅觉,其主要的交流渠道. |
| 272 | As a result, the infected individual loses contact with its friends, strays far away, and doesn't get back to the colony. | 因此,被感染者失去与朋友的接触,流浪远方,不再回到殖民地. |
| 273 | At this stage, the fungus already controls its behavior, looking for optimal conditions to fully mature. | 在这个阶段,真菌已经控制了它的行为,寻找到完全成熟的最佳条件. |
| 274 | Eventually, the fungus causes the ant to find a cool, damp spot and bite down on the bottom of the leaf on the branch. | 最终,真菌会让蚂蚁找到一个凉爽潮湿的斑点,咬下树枝上的叶底. |
| 275 | Once the ant bites the leaf, it can no longer let it go, as the fungus blocks muscle function. | 一旦蚂蚁咬断了叶子,它就不能再让它离开,因为真菌会阻断肌肉的功能. |
| 276 | The fungus keeps on growing inside the ant's body until it eventually pierces its head and releases new spores. | 这些真菌不断在蚂蚁体内生长,直到最终刺穿其头部并释放出新的孢子. |
| 277 | This whole process takes about ten painful days, and most of the time, the insect is alive. | 整个过程需要十天左右的痛苦,大部分时间,昆虫还活着. |
| 278 | Science is long known of this phenomenon. | 科学早就知道这种现象. |
| 279 | But until now, scientists have been unable to understand exactly how the parasitic fungus can control the ant's mind. | 但直到现在,科学家一直无法确切理解寄生真菌如何控制蚂蚁的心灵. |
| 280 | It has often been called a brain parasite. | 常被称为脑寄生虫. |
| 281 | But a study from February 2021, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, disproves this theory. | 但发表于"国家科学院学报"的2021年2月的研究否定了这一理论. |
| 282 | It turns out that the insect's brain remains intact, and the ant is being controlled by introducing the mycelium into the muscle fibers throughout the body. | 原来昆虫的大脑仍然完好无损,蚂蚁通过将菌丝引入全身肌肉纤维来控制. |
| 283 | In fact, an infected ant becomes an exoskeleton and a means of fungus transportation, while ant tissue cells are partially replaced by fungi. | 事实上,被感染的蚂蚁会变成外骨骼和一种真菌运输手段,而蚂蚁组织细胞则部分被真菌取代. |
| 284 | That is, the ant effectively becomes one with the fungus. | 也就是说,蚂蚁会和真菌一起成为真菌 |
| 285 | Like a real puppeteer, fungus pulls the strings, forcing the ant to perform this terrible scenario, having no chance to get rid of this zombie influence. | 像真正的傀儡一样,真菌拉弦,迫使蚂蚁进行这种可怕的场景,没有机会摆脱这种僵尸的影响. |
| 286 | Nonetheless, despite all their weaknesses, ants firmly occupy their niche in the Earth's biosphere. | 尽管如此,蚂蚁尽管有种种弱点,仍然牢牢地占据了它们在地球生物圈中的优势. |
| 287 | And the structure of their society, and how closely it resembles human civilization, is even a little shocking. | 而他们的社会结构,以及它与人类文明的相似性,甚至有点令人震惊。 |
| 288 | Who knows what kind of civilization leap they might make in the future? | 谁知道他们将来会实现什么样的文明飞跃? |
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