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Each blade is cut to length and placed into a garden of fungus.
每根葉片都被切成一定長度，放入菌圃。
The rotting grass feeds the fungus, and in turn the fungus feeds the ants.
真菌以腐爛的葉片為食，而真菌又成為螞蟻的食物。
But feeding 5,000,000 workers requires intensive agriculture.
養(yǎng)活五百萬勞動者需要大規(guī)模的高效耕作。
Luckily, they are an industrious lot.
幸好它們都很勤勞。
This colony alone will collect over half a ton of grass every year.
僅這一個蟻群，每年就能收集五百多公斤草。
With billions of ant colonies across the world's grasslands
數(shù)十億蟻群遍布全球草原，
all doing exactly the same thing, that's a mind-boggling amount of grass.
都在做相同的事，它們消耗的草數(shù)量驚人。
It's estimated that over one third of the grass that grows on Earth will be harvested by an insect.
據(jù)估計，地球上超過三分之一的草都會被這種昆蟲采去。
In northern Australia, termites memorialise their industry in sculpture.
在澳大利亞北部，白蟻辛勤的勞作體現(xiàn)在雕塑上。
These astonishing mounds are 10 feet tall.
這些令人嘆為觀止的白蟻丘有三米高。
They're always built on a north-south axis, which is why their builders are called compass termites.
全部建成南北走向，因此它們的建筑者被稱為羅盤白蟻。
These castles of clay protect their builders from extremes of heat and seasonal floods experienced on many grasslands.
這些粘土造就的城堡保護著它們的主人不受草原酷暑和季節(jié)性洪水的傷害。
Termites manage to do what most grass eaters can't, break down dead grass and extract the nutrients.
白蟻與大多數(shù)食草動物不同，它們能分解枯草，提取養(yǎng)分。
But they themselves can be food for those that can reach them.
但也有動物能探進蟻穴將它們吃掉。
