蚂蚁世界也有"自杀式爆炸"

　　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。

　　美国生态学家马克-莫菲特近日称，搞“自杀式爆炸”的恐怖分子不仅在人类中存在，蚂蚁也会采用极为戏剧化的方式“自杀”，和敌人同归于尽。

　　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。

　　在莫菲特出版的新书《蚁群历险记》中，他描述并展示了某些种群的蚂蚁如何使用“自杀式爆炸”来清除异类的过程。在马来群岛婆罗洲森林里的一棵大树上，莫菲特在柱状白蚁巢穴附近设置了“陷阱”。他在树干洒些蜂蜜以吸引蚂蚁出现。

　　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."

　　他在书中描述了接下来发生的场景：“一个小时后，织叶蚁和另一种木蚁同时发现了诱饵，它们立即向大树靠近。其中一只爬上树干但是又下来了。另外一只爬得更高些，还想超过一只柱状白蚁。正在我按下快门的一刹那，柱状白蚁发生‘自爆’，白蚁自身和另外一只蚂蚁同时被一种黄色胶质液体固定在了一起。”

　　Moffett also describes a Brazilian species that kills entire ant nests at a time。

　　莫菲特还在书中描述了一种通过全体自杀来自卫的特殊蚁群。

　　"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."

　　“约有8只蚂蚁组成敢死队，在夜间用自己的身躯和沙土牢牢封堵住蚁穴入口，同时不断查缺补漏直到蚁穴没有任何缝隙。在外面到第二天黎明，8只蚂蚁几乎全部死亡——原因不明，大概这些蚂蚁都属于老弱病残类。随后蚁穴成员出来将同伴的尸体清理干净并开始准备新一天的觅食行动。到了第二天晚上，又会有更多蚂蚁接替前一天牺牲同伴的工作。”

　　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。

　　为了便于理解蚂蚁的这种“自杀”行为，莫菲特建议我们把一个蚂蚁群体看作是一个组织。舍弃“不重要”的部分来保全整个群体。“群体更庞大，伤亡相应越少，”他说。