Name: 隨處可見的蟻丘底下到底藏著什麼？ (What's Inside An Anthill?)
Uploaded: 2020-04-30T21:01:10.000Z
Duration: 3 min 15 s

At first glance, a fire ant hill —or mound, as it's properly called—looks impossibly small.

第一眼，火蟻丘，或確切的名字，蟻塚，看起來非常小。

And yet a colony of up to 250,000 ants call it home.

但裡頭住著最多 250,000 隻的螞蟻。

But here's the secret: that mound is just the tip of an enormous iceberg.

偷偷說個秘密：蟻塚只是巨大冰山的一小角。

So let's take a closer look at what's inside an anthill.

讓我們來仔細看看，蟻丘下到底藏著什麼。

The mound is really the top of an enormous underground structure: the nest.

蟻塚其實是巨大地下巢穴的頂端。

Which is basically a giant nursery: a nice, cozy place to raise babies.

其實就是個大型育嬰室，一個良好、舒適的地方來養育寶寶。

Their mother, the queen, roams around the nest while laying 1,500 eggs a day! [Yes, I am tired.]

牠們的媽媽，蟻后，會在巢穴裡漫步，每天產下 1,500 顆蛋。[對，我很累！]

Now, all those baby ants need to live in a narrow temperature range to grow.

所有的螞蟻寶寶需要生活在嚴格的溫度條件下。

So that nest sports temperature-controlled rooms.

And it does so without the help of an AC unit. [Are you kidding me?]

The nest is arranged like an ice cream cone.

整個蟻穴就像一個冰淇淋甜筒。

At the top, you have the mound, the ice cream, as it were.

在最頂部有著蟻塚，也就是冰淇淋。

Because it's above the surface, it warms from the heat of the sun, so the babies can snuggle up in toasty chambers networked throughout the mound.

因為它在地表上，所以可以透過陽光加熱，寶寶們就可以在蟻塚溫暖的房間裡成長。

But they can't stay there all day, or they'd get too hot.

但他們不能在那待一整天，不然會太熱。

That's where the cone part of the ice cream cone comes in.

這就是為什麼需要冰淇淋甜筒的甜筒部分了。

The mound is connected to several vertical shafts that plunge up to 2 meters beneath the ground.

蟻塚連接著數個垂直的通道，最深可達地底兩公尺。

Throughout the day, adult ants ferry the babies up and down the shafts, chasing that perfect temperature for their young charges.

一整天，成蟻帶著寶寶從通道來回跑，就為了給寶寶最完美的溫度。

The nest also sports dozens of tapering tunnels that branch off from these main shafts.

蟻穴的主通道也有許多小通道延伸出來。

These connect to small chambers where the ants rest, eat, and feed the babies until it's time to move the little ones once again.

這些小分支連接到許多小房間，在那邊螞蟻可以休息、進食與餵食寶寶，直到又到了該移動寶寶的時間。

Now, there's one more type of tunnel inside the nest, but only a few ants ever use it.

蟻穴裡還有一種通道，但只有少數的螞蟻會使用到。

You see, someone needs to find food for the rest of the colony, but running around outside the nest is dangerous business.

你想想，總有人得要為族群成員找食物，但在外面跑來跑去可是很危險的。

These are a couple of horizontal passages buried just a few centimeters from the surface.

覓食蟻道是數條水平的通道，就在表層幾公分底下而已。

But they run throughout the entire territory, which can cover up to 185 square meters of land.

這些通道覆蓋整個領地，最大可以覆蓋至 185 平方公尺。

By scurrying through these passageways, the scouts can stay underground as long as possible.

從這些通道移動，讓偵查蟻可以長時間待在地底。

But unfortunately, the nest and all its roads can't protect the ants from every threat.

不幸地，蟻穴與這些通道無法從所有威脅中保護螞蟻。

It turns out all sorts of critters sneak inside fire ant nests.

結果，有許多生物會潛伏在蟻穴中。

And while many of them are actually harmless, others are horrible houseguests. [You weren't even invited over.]

雖然有許多種生物是無害的，但有些可是可怕的客人。

For example, beetles burrow into the nest and devour the eggs and larvae.

舉例來說，甲蟲會挖掘蟻穴，吃掉蛋與幼蟻。

But invaders aren't the only threat to the colony.

Occasionally, clueless humans or major floods disturb the nest.

偶爾，無知的人類或水災會摧毀蟻穴。

And when that happens, the fire ants have only one option, leave.

當這種事發生，火蟻們只剩一個選項，離開。

Once a year on average, the colony will move out and build an entirely new nest from scratch.

平均一年一次，整個蟻群會搬離，到新的地方從頭築起新蟻穴。

And best of all, they only need a few days to do it.

厲害的是，他們只需要幾天就可以蓋好了。

That's right, practically overnight, meters upon meters of tunnels can pop up in your yard.

沒錯，基本上只要一個晚上，綿延幾公尺的通道們就會出現在你家院子裡。

而你會注意到的，只有一個小蟻丘。