Name: 億萬蟻群與地球上最大的戰爭 (The Billion Ant Mega Colony and the Biggest War on Earth)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:41:32.000Z
Duration: 9 min 23 s

In nearly every corner of the earth, ants wage war against each other.

Their weapons are what nature gave them. Some have strong armor, deathly stingers, or sharp mandibles.

And then there's this tiny and not very impressive ant,

他們所使用的武器是自然賦予給他們的

but it rules the biggest empire any ant has ever built.

A colony spanning continents and fighting wars that leave millions of casualties.

Let's take a look at this unlikely warrioress,

"Linepithema humile"   the Argentine ant.

This story begins in the floodplains  around the Paraná River, in South America,

但它掌握著任何螞蟻從未建立過的王國.

It's a crowded ant megalopolis where dozens of ant species fight for dominance,

有著遍佈各大洲的殖民地,以及造就了數百萬傷亡的戰爭.

including fire ants, army ants and the rather unimpressive Argentine ant.

讓我們來解析這些看似不可能成功的戰士,

It measures only 2 to 3 millimeters in length and with its small mandibles,

it's surprising that it survived among its buff competitors.

這個故事要從巴拉那河周圍的濕地說起

Their colonies range from fairly small to very large  and could be found anywhere:

Under logs, in loose leaf litter or the former colonies of other ants.

Here, Argentine ants prepare their most effective weapon against their competitors: bodies.

在這裡，數十種螞蟻在爭奪著支配權

Most ant species have only one queen to produce ants,

while Argentine ants went all-in on numbers.

So their colonies grow fast and have millions or billions of individuals.

令人感到驚訝的是,它們在眾多強大的對手中存活了下來

Teams of queens and workers frequently branch out and found new colonies.

But this strategy has a downside:  As colonies grow and produce a lot of offspring,

mutations occur and new colonies adapt to new environments.

Their DNA slowly changes from generation to generation and differences accumulate.

So after a while the ants that left the colony

will become more like distant cousins and start to compete with their mother colony.

In their native South American range, this is how Argentine ants behave.

在此,阿根廷螞蟻儲備著最有效對付他們的競爭對手的武器.

Within their colonies they are very cooperative and well-organized,

but they fight vicious wars against other Argentine ant colonies and other ant species

大多數的蟻種只有一個蟻后來進行生產

With equally strong opponents on every side,

然而阿根廷螞蟻則全力增加著族群的數量

the Argentine ant became extremely aggressive, fighting for every inch of ground.

大約每120隻工蟻會伴隨一隻蟻后

But it could never dominate its neighbours...  until humans showed up.

We did what humans do and transported things around the world by ship.

因此它們的領地迅速的發展,擁有著數以百萬甚至數億的人口

On one of them, a few Argentine ant queens hitched a ride as stowaways

結群的蟻后及工蟻經常離群並尋找新的領土.

from South America to Madeira and New Orleans.

The Argentine ants suddenly found themselves in a strange world.

隨著領地的增加,及後代數量迅速的成長

Instead of being surrounded by deadly enemies,

they found only victims ⁠—  nobody could fight them effectively.

它們的DNA隨著世代交替慢慢的改變

Because only a few Argentine ant queens were introduced to the outside world,

the resulting colonies had very low genetic diversity.

On top of that, the introduced Argentine ants

那些離群的螞蟻,會逐漸變得比較像遠親

kill up to 90% of their queens every year.

在南美洲的領土當中,阿根廷螞蟻的族群是這樣運作的

So, as these colonies spread across the landscape,

在它們的領地裡,它們相互合作並有著良好的組織

ants that left the colony were no longer considered distant cousins.

但它們會與其他蟻種甚至其他阿根廷蟻開戰

As a result, the new colonies form not opposing but cooperating parties called  "supercolonies".

This is a very uncommon strategy in the ant kingdom,

only a few of the 16,000 ant species have evolved supercolonies.

A supercolony was established on the West coast of the USA

但它們永遠無法併吞它們的鄰居

and became a base for the tiny ants' global conquest.

Today, the Argentine ant inhabits the Mediterranean zones of six continents and many islands.

我們所的的事就是透過船遊歷全世界

This one supercolony was especially successful,

establishing sister locations in California, Europe, Japan, New Zealand and Australia,

forming one massive intercontinental megacolony of Argentine ants.

從南美洲抵達了馬德拉及新奧爾良

This makes them  the largest society on Earth, more numerous than even the human one.

阿根廷蟻發現了自己抵達了一個陌生的地方

But their success has changed the ecosystems they invaded.

the invading Argentine ants have overrun and replaced 90% of the native ant species,

因為只有少數的阿根廷蟻被送到了異地

including several species of Californian carpenter ants.

使得族群的多樣性大幅的降低了

Although carpenter ant workers are giants,

更重要的,被引進的阿根廷螞蟻每年殺掉了大約九成的蟻后

their colonies have only between 3,000 and 6,000 individuals

更少的蟻后導致了更少的遺傳變異

and stand no chance against an expanding supercolony of billions of Argentine ants.

Argentine ant workers attack by wiping toxic chemicals on their victims

離開的螞蟻並沒有被認作為遠親

which irritates the enemy and marks them as a target for other Argentine ants.

When they attack, the Argentine ants wash over their victims,

新的族群並沒有與舊的族群對立

clinging on to their opponents in groups  and pulling apart their limbs.

取而代之的是它們合作組成了超級群落

It doesn't matter how many of them die ⁠—  there are always more.

這是螞蟻國度中很少採用的策略

Once the colony is overrun and exterminated,

一萬六千種螞蟻中只有少數品種發展了超級群落

the Argentine ants feed on their victims brood and take over their home and territory.

有一個超級群落在美國西海岸逐漸的成長

The Argentine ants' numbers allow them to hunt down and devour such an excessive mass of different insects

並變成了小小螞蟻征服地球的根據地

that over time some species disappear from the ants' territory completely.

Argentine ants don't care about working with the local flora and fauna,

And, if their next stop happens to be human property,

they will rudely make themselves at home there too.

They forage in dumpsters, bowls of pet food and sneak into kitchens to claim leftovers.

Not just our homes: our gardens and fields are also impacted by Argentine ants,

since they tend to hordes of aphids as their cattle.

The aphids feed from plants and produce a sweet honeydew, which they trade with the ants for protection.

Since the ants have no major enemy to fear in their new homes,

the aphids thrive  and ultimately kill the plants they live on.

建構了一個龐大的跨洲阿根廷蟻群

So, on top of being a major disruption for the ecosystems they invade,

這讓他們成為了地球上最大的社會組織

they are also a huge pest for agriculture.

But the rule of the Argentine ant is being challenged.

但他們的入侵也改變了當地的生態系統

Parts of the super colonies have broken off and become their own empires.

For example, the Lake Hodges Supercolony has been fighting against the Very Large Colony

侵入的阿根廷蟻群已經控制當地並替換掉九成當地的原生蟻種

A massive war is going on over a dynamic front line stretching over kilometers,

an estimated 30 million ants die here each year.

它們的族群數量大約只有落在3000至6000之間

On other fronts, an old acquaintance from the Parana River has risen from the shadows

並沒有能力去抵抗由數十億的數量所組成的阿根廷螞蟻族群

阿根廷蟻的工蟻透過抹上有毒的化學物質

which were accidentally introduced from their old home to the coast of Alabama,

Not only are the red fire ants fierce fighters and more than able to deal with the

以及將它們標記為目標以告知其他阿根廷螞蟻

Argentine ant, they are also able to form super colonies themselves.

當它們攻擊時，阿根廷螞蟻包圍著受害者

Now the old wars from their distant home have been taken to a foreign battleground.

In the southeastern US the super colonies clashed fiercely.