2023年经济学人 探寻蚂蚁残骸食腐动物(1)

 

    Like human armies, army ants spell trouble for anything that finds itself in their path.

    就像人类的军队一样，军蚁会给阻碍它们的任何东西带来麻烦。

    The insects make a habit of killing¹ organisms, often much larger than themselves, breaking them into pieces and dragging the morsels² back to their bivouacs.

    这种昆虫有一种习惯，它们会杀死比自己大得多的生物，把它们撕成碎片，然后把碎片拖回它们的营地。

    But they do not eat everything.

    但它们并不是什么都吃。

    Rubbish piles full with discarded bits of prey³ are a feature of army ant bases.

    丢弃猎物碎片然后堆成垃圾堆是军蚁基地的一大特色。

    Where there is carrion⁴, there are usually scavengers.

    哪里有腐肉，哪里就有食腐动物。

    But little is known about which animals scavenge on army ant leavings.

    但人们对哪些动物以军蚁的残骸为食却知之甚少。

    As recounted in a paper in Ecology & Evolution, Christoph von Beeren at the Technical University of Darmstadt and Daniel Kronauer at the Rockefeller University in New York, both entomologists, went to the rainforests of Costa Rica to find out.

    达姆施塔特工业大学的克里斯托弗·冯·比伦和纽约洛克菲勒大学的丹尼尔·克罗瑙尔都是昆虫学家，他们在哥斯达黎加的热带雨林中试图寻找答案。

    They found an entire ecosystem⁵ in miniature thriving among the leftovers⁶.

    他们在吃剩的食物中发现了一个完整的微型生态系统。

    Tracking scavengers such as vultures or hyenas⁷ on the savannah can be done with a folding chair and a pair of binoculars⁸.

    在大草原上追踪秃鹫或鬣狗等食腐动物，只需一把折叠椅和一副双筒望远镜。

    Monitoring tiny insects in a rainforest is much trickier—one reason why ant scavengers had not been examined before.

    而在雨林中监测微小的昆虫要棘手得多，这也就是为什么以前没有人研究过蚂蚁食腐动物的原因之一。

    But the researchers hoped modern DNA⁹ analysis techniques might make the job manageable.

    但研究人员希望现代DNA分析技术可以使这项工作变得容易。

    Working with a team of colleagues, they followed ant trails back to their bivouacs, finding 34 sites in total.

    他们与一组同事一起，沿着蚂蚁的足迹回到了它们的营地，总共找到了34个地点。

    The researchers used a handheld vacuum cleaner to suck up all the bugs¹⁰ at each refuse pile and brought the sucked up samples back to a field laboratory for sorting.

    研究人员使用手持式真空吸尘器吸走每个垃圾堆上的所有昆虫，并将被吸走的样本带回现场实验室进行分类。

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 morsels   

n.一口( morsel的名词复数 )；（尤指食物）小块，碎屑

参考例句：

• They are the most delicate morsels. 这些确是最好吃的部分。 来自辞典例句
• Foxes will scratch up grass to find tasty bug and beetle morsels. 狐狸会挖草地，寻找美味的虫子和甲壳虫。 来自互联网

3 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

4 carrion   

n.腐肉

参考例句：

• A crow of bloodthirsty ants is attracted by the carrion.一群嗜血的蚂蚁被腐肉所吸引。
• Vultures usually feed on carrion or roadkill.兀鹫通常以腐肉和公路上的死伤动物为食。

5 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

6 leftovers   

n.剩余物，残留物，剩菜

参考例句：

• He can do miracles with a few kitchen leftovers.他能用厨房里几样剩饭做出一顿美餐。
• She made supper from leftovers she had thrown together.她用吃剩的食物拼凑成一顿晚饭。

7 hyenas   

n.鬣狗( hyena的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These animals were the prey of hyenas. 这些动物是鬣狗的猎物。 来自辞典例句
• We detest with horror the duplicity and villainy of the murderous hyenas of Bukharinite wreckers. 我们非常憎恨布哈林那帮两面三刀、杀人破坏，干尽坏事的豺狼。 来自辞典例句

8 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》