Self-bombing terrorists don't just exist among humans, as ants too commit suicide in a very dramatic way while taking others out with them, according to an ecologist Mark Moffett。
美國生態(tài)學(xué)家馬克-莫菲特近日稱，搞“自殺式爆炸”的恐怖分子不僅在人類中存在，螞蟻也會采用極為戲劇化的方式“自殺”，和敵人同歸于盡。
In his new book Adventures Among Ants, Moffett describes and shows how some ants will commit suicide in a very dramatic way while taking others out with them. Just before this picture was snapped in Borneo, Moffett had set a trap at the base of a tree colonized by cylindricus ants. The trap was simply some honey that he drizzled around the tree trunk。
在莫菲特出版的新書《蟻群歷險記》中，他描述并展示了某些種群的螞蟻如何使用“自殺式爆炸”來清除異類的過程。在馬來群島婆羅洲森林里的一棵大樹上，莫菲特在柱狀白蟻巢穴附近設(shè)置了“陷阱”。他在樹干灑些蜂蜜以吸引螞蟻出現(xiàn)。
He describes what happened next: "After an hour, weaver ants along with another species of carpenter ants located the bait and started arriving at the cylindricus-occupied tree. One of them started up the trunk, but then came down again. Another climbed a bit higher and attempted to walk by a cylindricus minor worker. Just as I clicked the shutter there was a splash of yellow, and both ants were immobilized in a sticky, grotesque tableau."
他在書中描述了接下來發(fā)生的場景：“一個小時后，織葉蟻和另一種木蟻同時發(fā)現(xiàn)了誘餌，它們立即向大樹靠近。其中一只爬上樹干但是又下來了。另外一只爬得更高些，還想超過一只柱狀白蟻。正在我按下快門的一剎那，柱狀白蟻發(fā)生‘自爆’，白蟻自身和另外一只螞蟻同時被一種黃色膠質(zhì)液體固定在了一起。”
Moffett also describes a Brazilian species that kills entire ant nests at a time。
莫菲特還在書中描述了一種通過全體自殺來自衛(wèi)的特殊蟻群。
"Up to eight sacrificial individuals stay outside at night to seal the entrance with sand, kicking the final grains in place until no trace of the hole is visible. Walled off from their sisters, by dawn almost all are dead, for reasons unknown—perhaps the squad consists of the old or sick. The ants in the nest then clear the passage to begin the day's foraging. That night, more victims seal the door."
“約有8只螞蟻組成敢死隊，在夜間用自己的身軀和沙土牢牢封堵住蟻穴入口，同時不斷查缺補漏直到蟻穴沒有任何縫隙。在外面到第二天黎明，8只螞蟻幾乎全部死亡——原因不明，大概這些螞蟻都屬于老弱病殘類。隨后蟻穴成員出來將同伴的尸體清理干凈并開始準備新一天的覓食行動。到了第二天晚上，又會有更多螞蟻接替前一天犧牲同伴的工作。”
To understand such behavior, Moffett suggests that we think of an ant colony like a single organism. Cutting off a "minor" part may help to save the colony as a whole. "The larger the colony, the less consequential the casualty," he said。
為了便于理解螞蟻的這種“自殺”行為，莫菲特建議我們把一個螞蟻群體看作是一個組織。舍棄“不重要”的部分來保全整個群體。“群體更龐大，傷亡相應(yīng)越少，”他說。
