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Ant Attack!
螞蟻來襲！
Imagine this. You’re coming home to your gated community after a long day of work. As you stop to show the guard your ID, a mugger jumps out from behind a bush and grabs you by the mouth.
想象一下這樣的情景：結束了一天的漫長工作之后，你走到了小區(qū)的大門前。正當你停下來給門衛(wèi)看你的出入證時，有一人從灌木叢后跳出來，捂住你的嘴巴……
Okay, that last part sounded a little weird, but that’s pretty much the way it happens to sweat bees. These are the little metallic-looking critters who live in nests burrowed into the ground. Some bees go out foraging, but one stands by the entrance to the nest. She doesn’t let anyone in unless he can identify himself using a chemical tag. When the returning bee is waiting for the ID check, it's most vulnerable. And sure enough, entomologists have observed another species attacking at just that moment. Ectatomma ruidum–ants.
唔，好吧，后面一部分聽起來是有那么一點奇怪，但汗水蜜蜂就經常碰到這樣的事情。這些小生物有著金屬色的外表，居住在掘至地面的蜂巢里。有的蜜蜂外出覓食，此時，就會有一只蜜蜂像守衛(wèi)一樣把守在蜂窩的入口處。她不會讓任何不能通過特殊的化學標記亮出自己身份的蜜蜂進入蜂巢。然而，等待確認身份這一短短的時間卻是他們最容易受到攻擊的時候。事實也是如此，科學家們發(fā)現正是在等待確認身份的時候，汗水蜜蜂極易受到另一種生物——一種叫做Ectatomma ruidum的螞蟻的攻擊。
E. ruidum charges the waiting bee, grabs its mouthparts, hauls it away and kills it–now somebody else will be bringing home a little snack. What’s a bee to do? Two French researchers have recently spotted sweat bees changing their flight paths when an ant is lurking by the hole. According to the study, bees have been seen pulling up at the last minute and later try coming in from a different direction. Others land far away from the hole and then dash in on foot. Researchers found that even a dead ant with its odor removed is enough to spook the bees.
芮杜木會沖向等待著的蜜蜂，抓住他的口器，再將他拖到遠處殺死——這個時候別的蜜蜂可能正在將食物運回蜂巢。那么，蜜蜂又將怎么防著這些螞蟻呢?兩名法國研究員近日指出，一旦發(fā)現有螞蟻潛伏在蜂巢附近，蜜蜂們立刻會改變飛行方向。該研究還發(fā)現，蜜蜂會在最后一刻停下來，然后再試圖從其他方向進入蜂巢。其他有的也會在離洞口較遠的地方停下來，再徒步沖進蜂巢里面去。研究人員還發(fā)現，即使是一只死掉的氣味散盡的螞蟻都足以把蜜蜂們給嚇破膽。
This is an impressive feat, showing that sweat bees are somehow able to understand the danger posed by ants. But it’s also eye-opening to realize how much strategy and counterstrategy is involved in the daily lives of even the smallest insects.
這樣的事情相當令人吃驚，至少這告訴我們汗水蜜蜂能感知到由螞蟻所發(fā)出的危險氣息。從另一個方面說，這也讓人大開眼界：戰(zhàn)略與對策甚至被用在了最渺小的昆蟲們的日常生活當中。
