Don: Oh, no, Yaël it's starting to rain! And I left my ant farm outside, now my ants were drown and die.！

 

Yaël: Come on, Don. I'm guessing plenty of ants drown every time it rains, which makes me wonder how do ground nesting ants cope with rain.

 

D: Actually, ant species that burrow have different flood survival strategies. I mean, nest design alone can go a long way. Some species make sure to build their nests in sandy or well-drained soil that absorbs moisture and dries quickly. And others build mounds with waterproof roofs.

 

Y: Pretty clever!

 

D: Oh, that's nothing. One tropical species of ants has an alarm and evacuation plan for flooding. At the first sign of rain, minor worker ants start racing through the nest’s tunnels, mobilizing the entire nest is less than thirty seconds. Odor trails then direct everyone down unobstructed tunnels to dry areas in the nest or–if necessary–to those exits that aren’t blocked by water.

 

Y: Now, that's pretty amazing!

 

D: And some species have flood plans that even top that. A species of fire ants in the southwest leave their nests and form a large mass around the queen and her brood, basically acting like a living raft that floats until the waters recede, or it gets anchored on grass or bushes. Even though some die, enough survive–usually including the queen–so that once the waters go down, they can return to the nest or build a new one and go back to business as usual.

 

 

 

Don: 天呐，Yaël，下雨了！可是我把我的蚂蚁农场忘在了外面了，现在我的蚂蚁们肯定都被淹死了！

 

Yaël: Don，你想多了吧。每次一下雨就会有很多的蚂蚁被水淹，我就想不明白蚂蚁究竟是怎么在雨天存活下来的。

 

D: 事实上，蚂蚁这些挖洞居住的动物有他们的防洪生存策略。我的意思是说，就只洞穴的设计这一点来看，里面都是有门道的。有的会吧洞穴挖在沙地里，有的会挖在那种易吸收又易排出的排水状况良好的土地里，有的甚至会建起防水的土堆。

 

Y: 相当的聪明嘛！
 

D: 这还算不上什么！热带的一种蚂蚁还有一套洪灾警报及撤退计划：一旦发现在下雨，小工蚁会在30秒内跑遍所有巢穴内的通道，通知所有的蚂蚁。凭着气味，他们会转移到巢穴内干燥的地方，如若有需要，他们会撤退到未被水堵住的出口。
 

Y: 这个简直太了不起了！
 

D: 有些种类的蚂蚁比上一个还要厉害。在西南部，有一种火蚁，下雨时，蚂蚁们会离开巢穴。由工蚁们围绕着蚁后和蚁卵集中在一起，这样就像是一个活动的筏。直到水退去，或是在草地或是灌木丛“靠岸”，他们才会散去。虽然说有的蚂蚁会被淹死，但大多数都存活了下来——当然，这里面肯定包括了蚁后。保存实力的他们在退水后便可以返回巢穴或是建一个新的巢穴，像以前一样安然的生活着。