Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: The life of a fire ant queen - Walter R. Tschinkel

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yanyan Hong

It’s June, just after a heavy rainfall,

六月，在一場大雨之後沒多久，

and the sky is filling with creatures we wouldn’t normally expect to find there.

天上滿是我們通常不會 預期在天上看到的生物。

At first glance, this might be a disturbing sight.

看到的第一眼可能是個 會讓人不太舒服的畫面。

But for the lucky males and females of Solenopsis invicta,

但對幸運的雌、雄入侵火紅蟻而言，

otherwise known as fire ants, it’s a day of romance.

即一般所知的火紅蟻， 這是求愛的一天。

This is the nuptial flight,

這是「婚飛」，

when thousands of reproduction-capable male and female ants,

數以千計有繁殖能力的 雌、雄火紅蟻，

called alates, take wing for the first and last time.

稱為「有翅蟻」，進行 第一次也是最後一次飛行。

But even for successful males who manage to avoid winged predators,

但，就算是對成功逃過 飛行獵食者的雄蟻而言，

this mating frenzy will prove lethal.

這種交配潮也是致命的。

And for a successfully mated female, her work is only beginning.

對於成功交配的雌蟻而言， 牠的工作才剛開始。

Having secured a lifetime supply of sperm from her departed mate,

新蟻后已經從死去的配偶 取得了足以供應一生的精子，

our new queen must now single-handedly start an entire colony.

現在牠必須要靠自己 來創建一整個群落。

Descending to the ground,

牠下降到地面上，

she searches for a suitable spot to build her nest.

尋找適合的地點來築巢。

Ideally, she can find somewhere with loose, easy-to-dig soil—

理想的地點要有鬆軟 容易挖掘的土壤——

like farmland already disturbed by human activity.

比如已經被人類活動 給動過的農地。

Once she finds the perfect spot, she breaks off her wings—

一旦找到了完美的地點， 牠就會折斷翅膀——

creating the stubs that establish her royal status.

留下的殘段是用來 建立她的皇室身分。

Then, she starts digging a descending tunnel ending in a chamber.

接著，牠會開始挖掘 一條向下的通道，

終點處是一個房室。

Here the queen begins laying her eggs, about ten per day,

蟻后會在這個房室中產卵， 大約一天產十個，

and the first larvae hatch within a week.

第一隻幼蟲大約會在一週內孵化。

Over the next three weeks,

在接下來的三週內，

the new queen relies on a separate batch of unfertilized eggs

新蟻后就要仰賴 另一批沒有受精的卵

to nourish both herself and her brood,

來供應營養給牠自己和牠的幼蟲，

losing half her body weight in the process.

過程中牠的體重會減少一半。

Thankfully, after about 20 days,

好在，大約二十天後，

these larvae grow into the first generation of workers,

這些幼蟲會長大 成為第一代的工蟻，

ready to forage for food and sustain their shrunken queen.

準備去尋找食物來供養 牠們的瘦小蟻后。

Her daughters will have to work quickly though—

不過，牠的女兒們 必須要動作快——

returning their mother to good health is urgent.

讓牠們的母親恢復健康 是非常迫切的事。

In the surrounding area,

在周圍的地區，

dozens of neighboring queens are building their own ant armies.

有數十個鄰近的蟻后在建立 牠們自己的螞蟻大軍。

These colonies have peacefully coexisted so far,

目前這些群落都還相安無事，

but once workers appear,

但一旦工蟻出現，

a phenomenon known as brood-raiding begins.

就會開始發生 所謂的幼蟲掠奪現象。

Workers from nests up to several meters away

從遠達數公尺外的巢穴過來的工蟻

begin to steal offspring from our queen.

會開始從我們的蟻后 身邊偷取後代。

Our colony retaliates,

我們的群落會報復，

but new waves of raiders from even further away

但來自更遠的新一波掠奪者

overwhelm the workers.

會讓工蟻無法招架。

Within hours, the raiders have taken our queen’s entire brood supply

數小時內，掠奪者就會 把我們蟻后的所有幼蟲

to the largest nearby nest—

都帶到最大的鄰近巢穴——

and the queen’s surviving daughters abandon her.

蟻后存活下來的女兒會拋棄牠。

Chasing her last chance of survival,

蟻后為了抓住最後的生存機會，

the queen follows the raiding trail to the winning nest.

牠會追蹤掠奪的蹤跡， 找到獲勝的巢穴。

She fends off other losing queens and the defending nest’s workers,

牠會擊退其他輸掉的蟻后 以及防守巢穴的工蟻，

fighting her way to the top of the brood pile.

一路殺到幼蟲堆的頂上。

Her daughters help their mother succeed where other queens fail—

牠的女兒們協助牠做到了 其他蟻后無法做到的事——

defeating the reigning monarch, and usurping the brood pile.

打敗統治的君王，佔有幼蟲堆。

Eventually, all the remaining challengers fail,

最終，所有剩下的 挑戰者都失敗後，

until only one queen— and one brood pile— remains.

直到只剩下一個蟻后—— 和一個幼蟲堆。

Now presiding over several hundred workers in the neighborhood’s largest nest,

我們勝利的蟻后統轄了

這區最大巢穴中的數百名工蟻，

our victorious queen begins aiding her colony in its primary goal:

就要開始致力於 群落的主要目標：

reproduction.

繁殖。

For the next several years, the colony only produces sterile workers.

在接下來的幾年，

群落只會產出不生育的工蟻。

But once their population exceeds about 23,000,

但，一旦火蟻數目超過了 大約兩萬三千隻之後，

it changes course.

群落的方向就會改變。

From now on, every spring,

從現在起，每年春天，

the colony will produce fertile alate males and females.

群落就會產出繁殖能力 很強的有翅雄、雌蟻。

The colony spawns these larger ants throughout the early summer,

群落會在整個夏天前期 產出這些體型較大的螞蟻，

and returns to worker production in the fall.

秋天時，又重新開始產出工蟻。

After heavy rainfalls, these alates take to the skies,

在大雨之後，這些有翅蟻會飛上天，

and spread their queen’s genes up to a couple hundred meters downwind.

將牠們蟻后的基因散播出去， 範圍可達數百公尺外的下風處。

But to contribute to this annual mating frenzy,

但，若要對這年度 交配潮盡一份力，

the colony must continue to thrive as one massive super-organism.

群落就必須要以一個大型超級 有機體的形式繼續茁壯下去。

Every day, younger ants feed the queen and tend to the brood,

每天，比較年輕的螞蟻要 餵食蟻后並照顧幼蟲，

while older workers forage for food and defend the nest.

比較年長的工蟻要 尋找食物和防禦巢穴。

When intruders strike,

當入侵者攻擊時，

these older warriors fend them off using poisonous venom.

這些老戰士會用有毒的 毒液來擊退入侵者。

After rainfalls, the colony comes together,

雨後，群落全員會集結起來，

using the wet dirt to expand their nest.

用濕土來拓展牠們的巢。

And when a disastrous flood drowns their home,

當災難性的洪水淹沒牠們的家園，

the sisters band together into a massive living raft—

姐妹們就會聚集在一起， 形成大型的救生筏——

carrying their queen to safety.

把蟻后帶到安全的地方。

But no matter how resilient,

但，不論恢復力有多強，

the life of a colony must come to an end.

群落的生命總會有終點。

After about 8 years, our queen runs out of sperm

大約八年後，蟻后會把精子用盡，

and can no longer replace dying workers.

不再能夠產生新的工蟻 來遞補死掉的工蟻。

The nest’s population dwindles, and eventually,

巢中的螞蟻數減少，最終，

they’re taken over by a neighboring colony.

牠們就會被鄰近的群落接管。

Our queen’s reign is over, but her genetic legacy lives on.

我們蟻后的統治到此告終， 但牠的基因遺產會繼續活下去。