Name: 這些螞蟻竟然拿牠們的寶寶當膠水槍？！😱 (These Ants Use Their Babies As Glue Guns)
Uploaded: 2026-02-11T17:09:36.000Z
Duration: 7 min 43 s

Deep in tropical jungles lie floating kingdoms ruled by beautiful and deadly masters.

在熱帶叢林的深處，漂浮的王國由美麗又致命的主宰者統治著。

They're sort of the high elves of the ant kingdoms, talented architects that create castles and city states.

牠們有點像是螞蟻王國裡的高等精靈，是才華洋溢的建築師，建造城堡和城邦。

But they are also fierce and expansionist warriors.

但牠們同時也是凶猛且具擴張野心的戰士。

And their kingdoms are ensnared in a never ending war for survival.

牠們的王國深陷於一場永無止境的生存戰爭中。

Oikophala weavers walk on long legs, have slender bodies and large eyes, which make them look pretty cute.

Oikophala weavers 擁有長腿、纖細的身體和大眼睛，讓牠們看起來超可愛。

Although their strong mandibles and the ability to shoot acid also make them pretty good at killing.

雖然牠們強壯的顎和噴射酸液的能力，也讓牠們很擅長殺戮。

Their colonies usually have two to three worker classes that vary dramatically in size.

牠們的蟻巢通常有兩到三個工蟻階級，體型差異非常大。

Majors, minors or and sometimes even tiny minim workers.

有大工蟻、小工蟻，有時甚至還有微工蟻。

They vary in color from dark brown to emerald green.

牠們的顏色從深棕色到翠綠色都有。

Other than their fancy looks, what makes weavers special is that they're in the kingdom building business.

除了外表很酷之外，讓織葉蟻特別的是牠們在從事築巢建國事業。

They like to build at pretty much all heights, starting in shrubs a few centimeters above the ground and up to 10 meters in the tree canopy.

牠們喜歡在各種高度築巢，從離地面幾公分的灌木叢，到樹冠層高達 10 公尺的地方都有。

But they're not satisfied with ruling just one plant.

但牠們不滿足於只佔領一棵樹。

Weavers will look for twigs or lianas that bridge the gap to other trees and expand to every plant they can reach.

織葉蟻會尋找連接到其他樹木的樹枝或藤蔓，並擴展到牠們能觸及的每一株植物。

This way, colonies spread upwards and sideways through the treetops.

這樣一來，蟻巢就能在樹冠層向上和向旁邊擴散。

The largest weaver ant kingdoms we know of occupy up to 1,600 square meters around four basketball courts.

我們知道最大的織葉蟻王國佔地高達 1,600 平方公尺，大約是四個籃球場那麼大。

A lot of ground to cover for tiny ants and impossibly hard to control.

對於小小的螞蟻來說，這範圍實在太大了，而且根本不可能控制。

So weaver ants construct dozens of nests scattered all over their territory outposts to defend the kingdom.

所以織葉蟻會在牠們的領地前哨站散佈數十個巢穴來防衛王國。

Tubes or balls made from leaves and ghostly silk sheets, these masterpieces of high ant architecture are created by the weaver majors, the larger worker ants, which are responsible for the more dangerous jobs like fighting, foraging and nest construction.

這些由葉子和幽靈般的絲綢薄膜組成的管狀或球狀結構，是高等螞蟻建築學的傑作，由大工蟻（負責戰鬥、覓食和築巢等較危險工作）所建造。

To start a new nest, a major tries to bend different leaves in her surroundings into a tube.

要開始一個新巢穴時，一隻大工蟻會試著將周圍不同的葉子彎折成管狀。

If one of the leaves is flexible enough, more workers will arrive to help.

如果其中一片葉子足夠有彈性，就會有更多工蟻前來幫忙。

Chains of workers pull the leaf's edges together or reach across gaps and grab distant leaves to add them to the construction.

工蟻們會排成一列，將葉子的邊緣拉攏在一起，或跨越縫隙抓住遠處的葉子，將它們加入建築中。

While the bending and pulling is going on, other workers carry larvae from the closest nest to the construction site.

在彎折和拉扯的同時，其他工蟻會將最近巢穴裡的幼蟲運送到建築地點。

Usually, ant larvae spin themselves a cocoon to protect themselves.

通常，螞蟻幼蟲會自己吐絲結繭來保護自己。

But the weaver ant larvae give all of their silk to the colony as building material.

但織葉蟻的幼蟲會將牠們所有的絲都貢獻給蟻巢作為建築材料。

So when the workers tap the larvae's heads on the leaf, they release their sticky thread like tiny cute glue guns.

所以當工蟻們敲擊幼蟲的頭部時，牠們就會像小小的可愛膠水槍一樣，釋放出牠們的黏性絲線。

This way, the workers sew the bent leaf onto itself so it won't unfold anymore.

這樣，工蟻們就能將彎折的葉子縫合起來，讓它不會再展開。

This creates a central chamber that's used as the basis for up to 300 more leaves that are wound around it.

這就形成了一個中央腔室，作為圍繞它的多達 300 片葉子的基礎。

Together, they form Little pockets and act as additional rooms for the new outpost.

結合起來，牠們形成小口袋，作為新前哨站的額外房間。

To make it even more cozy, minor workers use the larvae to weave additional floors and chambers.

為了讓巢穴更舒適，小工蟻會利用幼蟲編織額外的樓層和房間。

Nests are usually constructed as barracks on the territory's borders.

巢穴通常建在領地邊界，作為兵營。

Or as storage for brood and food supplies.

或是作為幼蟲和食物的儲藏室。

This way, the ants don't need to cross vast distances to the headquarters.

這樣一來，螞蟻就不需要長途跋涉到總部。

But have soldiers close to any potential point of conflict.

而是讓阿兵哥們靠近任何潛在的衝突點。

Apart from one special nest in the middle of the network, which is reserved for the queen and her guards.

除了網絡中央有一個特別的巢穴，留給蟻后和她的衛兵。

Here, she produces hundreds of eggs a day, which get transferred to suitable nests with brood chambers.

在這裡，牠們每天會產下數百顆卵，並將卵送到有育兒室的合適巢穴。

So a colony is a network of little castles and moats connected by suspension bridges made from leaves, lianas, and

所以一個蟻巢是由許多小城堡和護城河組成的網絡，透過由葉子、藤蔓和

An established colony easily has half a million individuals that need to be fed.

一個成熟的蟻巢很容易就有五十萬隻螞蟻需要餵食。

Fortunately, weaver ants evolved to have very close and beneficial relationships with their hosts, shrubs and trees.

幸運的是，Oikofler weaver ants 和牠們的宿主，也就是灌木和樹木，發展出非常緊密且互利的關係。

The tree gives the ants a home and access to sweet SAP to drink.

樹木提供螞蟻一個家，以及可以飲用的甜美樹液。

But maybe even more importantly, it allows them to cultivate cattle, like aphids or caterpillars that produce honeydew for them.

但更重要的可能是，這讓牠們能夠飼養像是蚜蟲或毛毛蟲等會分泌蜜露的「牲畜」。

This would usually hurt a tree, but these insects belong to a small group of VIPs.

這通常會傷害樹木，但這些昆蟲屬於一小群「貴賓」。

Only a few selected neighbors, and the ants cattle are allowed on the fruit tree.

只有少數被選中的鄰居，以及螞蟻的「牲畜」才被允許出現在果樹上。

Many other insects and even larger herbivores are scared off or even killed and eaten.

許多其他昆蟲，甚至較大的草食動物，都會被嚇跑，甚至被殺死吃掉。

So in most cases, the tree only has to tolerate acceptable levels of damage while being protected from more dangerous pests.

所以在大多數情況下，樹木只需要忍受可接受程度的損害，同時免受更危險害蟲的侵害。

The weaver ant kingdom could be an ant paradise if there wasn't competition.

如果沒有競爭，Oikofler weaver ant 王國可以說是螞蟻的天堂。

Just like medieval humans, every queen seeks to conquer others and make their land their own.

就像中世紀的人類一樣，每隻蟻后都想征服其他蟻巢，將牠們的領地據為己有。

Controlling fertile land is the key to survive in the jungle.

控制肥沃的土地是叢林生存的關鍵。

And if a kingdom loses too much of it, it shrinks and is overrun or starves to death.

如果一個蟻巢失去太多領地，牠就會萎縮，被其他蟻巢侵佔或餓死。

So expanding and defending their borders is critical to keep the colony alive.

所以擴張和保衛邊界對維持蟻巢的生存至關重要。

When a kingdom invades another, it first gathers an army of a few thousand majors who make their way towards the opposing colony.

當一個蟻巢入侵另一個時，牠們會先集結幾千隻大工蟻組成軍隊，前往敵對的蟻巢。

The goal is to steal a bit of territory and take it over.

目標是奪取一小塊領地並加以控制。

Defending weaver patrols quickly spot the invaders and immediately release an alarm pheromone.

巡邏的織葉蟻守衛會迅速發現入侵者，並立即釋放警報費洛蒙。

Some rush to the front to defend, while others rush to the closest outposts for help, marking their route with pheromones.

有些會衝上前線防禦，有些則會衝向最近的領地前哨站求援，並用費洛蒙標記牠們的路線。

Whenever they meet other sisters, they jerk their bodies as if in a fight to signal them to follow the pheromone trail to the front line.

牠們遇到其他姐妹時，會像打架一樣甩動身體，示意牠們跟隨費洛蒙蹤跡前往前線。

At the site of battle, mages from both parties raise their bodies, circle each other with mandibles wide open.

在戰場上，雙方的戰士會挺起身體，顎部張開，互相繞圈。

If an ant gets a hold of her opponent, the victim is pulled into a group of allied majors and pinned down.

如果一隻螞蟻抓住她的對手，受害者會被拉進一群盟軍大工蟻中並被壓制住。

The ants then rip the victim apart, clipping off antennae and legs and slicing open their abdomens to slow down the advance of the attackers.

接著螞蟻會將受害者撕碎，剪掉觸角和腿，並劃開牠們的腹部，以減緩攻擊者的推進速度。

The defending majors squirt formic acid over the battlefield to chemically burn their targets.

防守的大工蟻會將蟻酸噴灑在戰場上，化學性地灼傷牠們的目標。

This is soon answered in the same way by the attackers.

攻擊者很快也會以同樣的方式回應。

In the chaotic battle, both parties lose countless fighters on the increasingly acidic battlefield.

在這場混亂的戰鬥中，雙方都在日益酸化的戰場上損失了無數戰士。

After a few minutes, the backup from the outposts arrive, and

幾分鐘後，來自前哨站的援軍抵達，

the time window for a successful attack slowly closes.

成功攻擊的時間窗口也緩慢關閉。

The defenders slowly push back the attack party.

In the end, the attackers can't keep up and have to retreat.

最後，攻擊方無法再支撐，只好撤退。

For both parties, it was a costly battle.

對雙方來說，這都是一場代價慘重的戰役。

Thousands of corpses lie piled up on the ground under the battlefield, and many ants are severely injured.

戰場下方堆積了成千上萬的屍體，還有許多螞蟻身受重傷。

The defending colony's nests and brood are safe, though the attacker's attempt to steal new, valuable territory has failed for today.

防守蟻巢的巢穴和幼蟲都安全了，雖然攻擊方今天想搶奪新領地的企圖失敗了。

They'll try again soon, but the kingdom will be ready.

牠們很快會再來，但蟻巢已經準備好了。

For the high ants of the floating kingdoms, war is nothing special.

對於漂浮王國裡的高等螞蟻來說，戰爭沒什麼大不了的。

Because, as we know, empires never, ever have enough.

因為，我們都知道，帝國永遠都不會滿足。

而Oikofler weaver ants已經準備好戰鬥了。