An Ant’s Life 蚂蚁的一生

Recently, we have an infestation of ants in our kitchen. We looked around for a cure and found this plaster bottle of “RAID”, a liquid ant killer.

最近，我们的厨房里有蚂蚁出没。我们四处寻找治疗方法，发现了这个“RAID”的膏药瓶，一种液体蚂蚁杀手。

We googled “Liquid Ant Killer - Raid” and discovered that it contains a unique blend of natural attractants, like sugar and honey, to effectively draw ants out, not only to have the liquid themselves but to take the liquid back to their Queen and thus it can kill an entire colony of ants. The active ingredient in the bait interferes with the ant’s digestive system, and eventually killing the ants within one to three days. This long period gives the worker ants enough time to make multiple trips to the bait and their nest to share the bait with other ants in their colony.

我们在谷歌上搜索“液体蚂蚁杀手 - 突袭”，发现它含有一种独特的天然引诱剂混合物，如糖和蜂蜜，可以有效地将蚂蚁引出，不仅可以自己获得液体，还可以将液体带回蚁后，从而它可以杀死整个蚁群。诱饵中的活性成分会干扰蚂蚁的消化系统，最终在一到三天内杀死蚂蚁。这段漫长的时间让工蚁有足够的时间多次前往诱饵和巢穴，与蚁群中的其他蚂蚁分享。

We placed two patches of the liquid along the paths of the ants and within the next hour, we found that the smaller patch (above the other patch in the photograph here) was totally consumed and that the second patch was crowded with the ants and parts of this patch were also fully consumed.

我们沿着蚂蚁的路径放置了两块液体，在接下来的一个小时内，我们发现较小的一块（这里照片中的另一块上方）被完全消耗掉了，第二块里面挤满了蚂蚁和零件这个补丁也被完全消耗掉了。

The interesting fact observed was that the ants disappeared during sunlight hours when the sun was shining through the kitchen bay window. The ants returned at sunset and we added more of the liquid into the two patches of RAID and the initial result can be seen in the photograph below.

观察到的有趣事实是，当阳光透过厨房凸窗照射时，蚂蚁会在阳光照射下消失。蚂蚁在日落时返回，我们将更多的液体添加到 RAID 的两个补丁中，初步结果可以在下面的照片中看到。

The next day, there was no more ants taking the liquid. We left the two patches alone and truly, it does appear now that the ants in that colony have been totally eliminated.

第二天，不再有蚂蚁吸食液体。我们将这两个补丁单独放置，确实，现在看来，该蚁群中的蚂蚁已被完全消灭。

We have a recorded video of the activity of the ants during the first time of the liquid drops in place. View this the video by clicking here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0U1QtefBhw

我们录制了第一次液滴到位期间蚂蚁活动的视频。点击此处观看此视频：https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0U1QtefBhw

Another surprising fact observed is that the dead ants are somehow taken away by the other ants to leave the tiled surface totally clean. As we did not see any ant carrying dead ants away, our conclusion was that the ants somehow eaten the dead ones, or at least sucked in the dead bodies and stored them within their bodies to a buried spot near their nest.

观察到的另一个令人惊讶的事实是，死去的蚂蚁不知何故被其他蚂蚁带走，使瓷砖表面完全干净。由于我们没有看到任何蚂蚁将死去的蚂蚁带走，因此我们的结论是蚂蚁不知何故吃掉了死去的蚂蚁，或者至少将尸体吸进了尸体，并将它们存放在它们的身体内，并存放在它们巢穴附近的掩埋点。

Do ants bury the dead ones? Apparently they do. Mike Fellows, of Sutton Coldfield, UK, has researched this area of ant’s life. He wrote that it is common among social insects like ants to remove corpses to prevent the spread of pathogens. A ‘pathogen’ is defined as an organism that can cause disease to the living ones. This behaviour is called necrophoresis, and It is common among ants to remove their corpses and to clean the surface thereafter to prevent the spread of pathogens.

蚂蚁会埋葬死者吗？显然他们这样做了。英国 Sutton Coldfield 的 Mike Fellows 研究了蚂蚁生活的这一领域。他写道，在蚂蚁等社会昆虫中，移除尸体以防止病原体传播是很常见的。 “病原体”被定义为一种可以导致活体疾病的有机体。这种行为称为 necrophoresis，蚂蚁通常会移走尸体并随后清洁表面以防止病原体传播。

“Ant colonies have specialised undertakers for the task. They usually carry their dead to a sort of graveyard or take them to a dedicated tomb within the nest,” he added.

“蚁群有专门的承办人来完成这项任务。他们通常将死者带到某种墓地或将它们带到巢穴内的专用坟墓，”他补充说。

Read more at: https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24632841-100-do-ants-bury-their-dead/#ixzz7Ktax3ihO.

阅读更多内容：https://www.newscientist.com/lastword/mg24632841-100-do-ants-bury-their-dead/#ixzz7Ktax3ihO

The Ant’s Life Cycle begins with the eggs that the Queen Ant lays - millions of eggs at any one time. This eggs are small, the size of a comma in our New Roman Times Font 12.

蚂蚁的生命周期始于蚁后产下的卵——任何时候都有数百万个卵。这个鸡蛋很小，在我们的 New Roman Times Font 12 中只有一个逗号那么大。

Not all eggs become adult ants and some are even eaten by nest-mates for extra nourishment. The eggs hatch into worm-shaped larva with no eyes and no legs. Larvae rely on adults to feed them constantly with food to grow in sizes. When large enough, the larvae become pupae. Papae start out whitish in colour and gradually becoming darker. They can spin a cocoon for their self-protection.

并非所有的卵都会变成成年蚂蚁，有些甚至会被巢友吃掉以获取额外的营养。卵孵化成没有眼睛和腿的蠕虫状幼虫。幼虫依靠成虫不断地用食物喂养它们来长大。当足够大时，幼虫变成蛹。 蛹开始时颜色发白，逐渐变深。他们可以结茧来保护自己。

Finally, a pupa emerges as an adult. The process of development from egg to adult can take several months. The adult ants belong to one of three groups: Queen, Worker, or Male.

最后，一只蛹长大成人。从卵到成虫的发育过程可能需要几个月的时间。成年蚂蚁属于以下三个群体之一：女王、工人或男性。

Queens are females that are fed, more like larvae do. They are larger than workers and lay all the eggs in a colony. Queens initially have wings and fly to find a mate or mates, but they tear the wings off before starting a new colony. A queen can live for decades under the right conditions.

皇后是被喂食的雌性，更像是幼虫。它们比工人大，并在一个群体中产卵。蚁后最初有翅膀，会飞来寻找一个或多个配偶，但在开始新的殖民地之前，它们会撕掉翅膀。在适当的条件下，女王可以活几十年。

Workers are females that were fed like the larvae. They do not reproduce, but perform other jobs, such as taking care of the brood, building and cleaning the nest, and gathering food. Workers are wingless and typically survive for several months.

工蚁是像幼虫一样被喂食的雌性。它们不繁殖，而是从事其他工作，例如照顾育雏、建造和清洁巢穴以及收集食物。工蚁没有翅膀，通常可以存活几个月。

Males have wings and fly to mate with Queens.  They live for only a few weeks and never help with the chores of the colony.

雄性有翅膀，飞到与皇后交配。他们只活了几个星期，从不帮忙做窝里的家务。