2023年经济学人 探寻蚂蚁残骸食腐动物(2)（在线收听）

    To keep the task manageable, the team confined themselves to examining only the beetles they had collected, leaving the other critters for later work.

    为了保证任务的可管理性，研究小组只检查了他们收集到的甲虫，而把其他动物留给以后的工作。

    They identified the beetles they could and ran DNA analyses on those that they could not.

    他们识别了能辨认的甲虫，并对那些他们不能识别的甲虫进行了DNA分析。

    In total, they collected 8,364 adult beetles, 511 beetle larvae and 24 beetle eggs.

    他们总共收集了8364只成年甲虫，511只甲虫幼虫和24颗甲虫卵。

    Those were spread across 91 species, several of which were entirely new to science.

    它们分布在91个种类中，其中一些是科学尚未发现的。

    Aside from that being far more than anyone had expected, the presence of the larvae and eggs indicates that the refuse piles are not so much convenient restaurants as full-on homes, where the beetles live out their entire lives.

    除了这远超出任何人预期的发现之外，幼虫和卵的存在也表明，与其说垃圾堆是便利餐馆，不如说是甲虫的家，甲虫在那里度过了一生。

    Precisely how these species manage to avoid being eaten themselves by their army-ant hosts remains to be determined.

    确切地说，这些物种是如何避免被宿主军蚁吃掉的还有待研究。

    Dr von Beeren speculates that a hygiene instinct that keeps the ants from eating material that has been taken to their refuse piles is at least partially responsible.

    冯·比伦博士推测，至少部分原因是蚂蚁的一种卫生本能，这种本能使蚂蚁不会吃那些被扔进垃圾堆的东西。

    And many species of beetles are able to produce compounds that smell repulsive to ants.

    许多种类的甲虫都能产生一种让蚂蚁反感的化合物。

    The research only scratches the surface of what is going on in the rubbish piles.

    这项研究只触及了垃圾堆中发生事情的表面。

    Besides a bewildering variety of beetles, the middens were rife with mites, springtails (whose ability to jump long distance often sees them confused with fleas), as well as other varieties of scavenging insect that the team simply did not have time to include in their analysis.

    除了各种令人眼花缭乱的甲虫外，垃圾堆里还到处都是螨虫、弹尾虫(常常因为跳得很远的能力与跳蚤混淆)，以及其他种类的食腐昆虫，研究小组根本没有时间把它们也纳入分析中。

    With so many different species present, the chances are high that among these insects are some predators too, seeking to feed on unsuspecting scavengers in turn.

    有这么多不同的物种存在，这些昆虫中很可能也有一些捕食者，它们轮流捕食毫无戒心的食腐动物。

    Before mechanised transport and long supply lines, human armies were followed around by cooks, merchants, beer-sellers and prostitutes, all of whom made a living off the activities of the soldiers.

    在机械化运输和漫长的补给线出现之前，人类军队的后面会跟着厨师、商人、卖啤酒的人和妓女，她们围绕着士兵的活动为生。

    It seems that army ants, with their own host of hangers-on, are not so different.

    看起来，拥有一群随从的军蚁并没有那么不同。