生命（2009）

But it's a race against time.
夜晚带来致命的地面霜
Night brings a lethal ground frost.
那些活下来的蝴蝶
Those that do survive,
一起安全的挤在树上睡觉 一睡就是四个月
sleep safely huddled together in the trees, for four months.
春天的暖意把它们从冬眠中唤醒
The warmth of spring wakes them from their hibernation.
从加拿大飞来的蝴蝶 大多活了下来
The majority of the butterflies that flew here from Canada have survived.
它们喝着去年秋天 抵达以来的第一回水
They take their first drink since their arrival last autumn.
天气日渐暖和 醒来的蝴蝶越来越多
With increasing warmth, more and more butterflies awake.
它们很快就会消失在北方
Soon they will all disperse northwards
这片森林将重归宁静
and tranquillity will return to this forest
直到这些蝴蝶的曾孙儿女
untilthe great grandchildren of these butterflies
回来逃避北国冰封的冬日
return to escape the freezing Northern winter.
不过有些昆虫
Some insects, however,
专门生活在最险恶的环境里
have made a speciality of living in the most adverse conditions.
莫诺湖被称为加州的死海
Mono Lake is known as California's dead sea.
盐分是海洋的两倍 生物几乎无法生存
It's twice as salty as the ocean and lethal to almost all life.
咸水蝇是少数
Alkali flies are one of the few creatures
能忍♥受这种环境的生物
able to tolerate these conditions
既然等于没有竟争对手
and since they have virtually no competitors,
这儿聚集了数百万只
they swarm in their millions.
苍蝇是最成功的昆虫之一
Flies are one of the most successful of all insects.
共有八万五千种
There are 85,000 different kinds
每一种栖息地 都有最适合生存的苍蝇种类
and among them, a perfect fly for almost every habitat,
连这里也不例外
even this one.
咸水蝇有特殊能力 才能在这片湖泊生存
The alkali fly has special abilities that enable it to live on this lake.
它能走到水底吃海藻
It can walk underwater to eat algae.
纤细的毛发夹住气泡 使它不致溺毙
Fine hairs trap air bubbles that prevent it from drowning.
但最大的关键
But most critically,
在于这种苍蝇的生理机能 可以中和致命的含盐浓度
the fly has a physiology that can neutralise the lethal levels of salt.
于是咸水蝇独霸莫诺湖 所向无敌
So the alkali fly's dominance of Mono Lake goes unchallenged
每年只有几个星期例外
except for a few weeks of the year.
十万只赤斑瓣蹼鹬 要迁徙到南美洲
100,000 Wilson's phalarope are migrating to South America.
莫诺湖是它们唯一的中途站
Mono Lake is their only stop-over.
这些咸水蝇对它们而言
These alkali flies, for them,
是无法抗拒的珍贵飨宴
are an invaluable and irresistible feast.
苍蝇没有防身武器，只能凑空飞起 隐身在大群苍蝇里
A fly has no defence, except tofly and become lost in a vast swarm.
要从空中抓一只苍蝇 需要高超的技巧
It needs considerable skill to pluck an individual fly from the air.
这里也有海鸥
There are gulls are here, too.
只不过它们 捕苍蝇的技巧不甚精练
Though their fly-catching techniques are not so refined.
短短四星期 赤斑瓣蹼鹬的体重增加一倍
In four weeks, the phalaropes double their weight.
接着它们再次出发南飞 把海鸥撇在这儿
Then they set off again, heading south. Leaving the gulls behind.
苍蝇的数量没受到什么影响
The size of the fly population has scarcely been affected.
对它们来说，数大便是以防卫
For them, sheer abundance is defence enough.
不过有些昆虫的 防御体系就复杂多了
But for some insects, defence is a much more complicated affair.
这是南非的一种步行虫
An oogpister beetle in South Africa.
它捕杀蚂蚁
He hunts ants.
它吃蚂蚁得到的可能不只是营养
Eating ants may give him more than just nourishment.
可能还有其他好处 协助它击退敌人
He may get something else from them that helps him fight his enemies.
蚂蚁发动反击，咬它的脚踝
The ants launch a counter-attack and nip his ankles.
但它只是把蚂蚁一脚踢开
But he simply kicks them out of the way.
它被英勇的蚂蚁赶跑了 立刻身陷险境
The valiantants drive him off... straight into real danger.
一只蒙哥
A mongoose.
蒙哥很好奇
It's inquisitive.
但也忌惮步行虫
But it's also wary of the oogpister.
黑白相间的花纹就是警告信♥号♥♥
A black and white pattern is a warning signal.
甲虫瞄准目标
The beetle takes aim...
把甲酸直接射向 蒙哥的眼睛和嘴巴
And fires formic acid straight at the mongoose's eyes and mouth.
甲虫大概是从 蚂蚁身上收集这种酸
The beetle probably collected this acid from the ants.
甲虫自己自然也弄得一身腥
It certainly makes the beetle itself very distasteful and that,
因此有了模仿的价值
in turn, makes it worth mimicking.
这只毫无防御的小蜥蜴 身怀甲虫的警示花纹
This defenceless little lizard carries the beetles' warning pattern.
也模仿甲虫奔跑的步伐
It also imitates the way the beetle runs.
模仿得不是很像，的确
Not particularly well, it's true, but well enough to
但是以欺骗掠食动物，以为这或许只是 一种发射酸液的甲虫
fool predators into thinking it just might be an acid-firing beetle.
各种昆虫都发展出化学武器
All kinds of insects have developed chemical weapons.
这是一对美国竹节虫
A pair of devil-rider stick insects.
它们会发射味道苦涩的油脂烯
They fire bitter-tasting oils, terpenes.
红褐林蚁惨遭 一只饥饿的乌鸦攻击
European wood ants under attack from a hungry crow.
让荨麻产生刺♥激♥感的 就是它们发射的那种酸
They fire the sort of acid that gives nettles their sting,
跟我们掉进一片荨麻里没两样
so this is like one of us falling into a nettle patch.
不过放屁甲虫 才是化学战争的行家
But the master of chemical warfare is the bombardier beetle.
它们在体内产生 非常强烈的化学反应
It can create a chemical reaction within it's body so violent
使它的腹部啧出滚烫的苛性液体
that boiling caustic liquid explodes out of its abdomen.
一秒钟喷发五百多次
By pulsing the jet 500 times a second,
它的尾巴才能保持凉爽 免得被煮熟
it keeps its rear end just cool enough to prevent it being cooked.
明尼苏达州的林地有一种昆虫
In the woodlands of Minnesota,
拥有另一种化学武器
there is an insect that has another chemical weapon.
但这种昆虫采取部队式作战 几乎能抵抗任何掠食动物
But this one fights as an army and can stand up to almost any predator.
蜜蜂白天不断收集花蜜
Bees collect nectar all day and transform it,
在肚子里变成自然界 最丰美的食物
within their stomachs, into one of nature's richest foods,
蜂蜜
honey.
数百只蜜蜂把它们宝贵的负荷
Hundreds of them are bringing their precious loads
带回这个空心树干里的蜂巢
back to their colony in this hollow log.
一旦天气转寒或出现干旱
The honey in their combs provides food for their young
蜂巢里的蜂蜜 为幼蜂和整个蜂群提供粮食
and for the whole colony if the weather turns cold or there's a drought.
但丰饶的食物引来窃贼觊觎
But so much food attracts thieves.
这只小黑熊很爱吃甜食
A black bear cub has a sweet tooth.
但它没和蜜蜂交过手
But he's never come across bees before
不知道它们会誓死保护蜂蜜
and he doesn't know that they will defend their honey to the death.
螫咬是一只蜜蜂 最终极的自我牺牲
Stinging is the ultimate self-sacrifice for a bee,
因为螫刺上有倒钩，拔不出来
because it can't pull out its barbed sting.
它的身体就这样四分五裂
So its body is torn apart.
小熊在蜜蜂攻击下落荒而逃
The bees' attack was far too much for the cub.
但更大的挑战就要来了
But a greater challenge is coming.
小熊的母亲
The cub's mother!
蜜蜂浴血奋战
The bees fight so hard that she only has time to steal a single comb.
隔着安全距离 这对母子开心享用蜂蜜
While the family enjoy their honey at a safe distance,
蜜蜂似乎吃了败仗
the bees appear to have been defeated.
它们的家园被毁
Their home has been destroyed
幼蜂免不了会死在外头
and their young will inevitably die out in the open.
但蜂群的气数未尽
Yet the colony is not doomed
因为工蜂正在拼命 至少救出一些重要物资
because the workers are now rescuing at least some of what really matters...
它们的蜂蜜
..their honey.
每个幸存者都能吞下 和自己体重相当的蜂蜜
Each survivor is able to eat its own weight in honey,
贮存在肚子里
storing it in its stomach.
它们将被迫抛弃奄奄一息的幼蜂
They will have to abandon their dying young,
但它们会带着不少宝贵的蜂蜜
but they will take much of their precious honey with them
在建立新蜂群时赖以维生
to sustain themselves while they build a new colony.
在这样组织严明的社会通力合作
Working together in such an organised society
是昆虫的伟大创举
is the insects' great innovation.
那这是怎么开始的呢
So how did it begin?
可能是从这样的地方为起点
It may have started in a place like this -
日本赤椿象的巢穴
the nest of the Japanese red bug.
昆虫通常不照顾子女
Parent insects don't usually care for their offspring
但这种赤椿象不一样
but this bug is different.
小赤椿象只吃 一种稀有树木的落果
The young feed on fallen fruit from just one kind of rare tree.
它们自己根本找不到 所以是母亲找来给它们吃的
They could neverfind it by themselves. So theirmother collects it for them.
它研究自己找到的每个果实 看看熟不熟
She probes every fruit she finds to test its ripeness
然后一个接着一个淘汰
and rejects one after another.
可能要花好几个小时
This can take hours.
最后终于找到完美的果实
At last, a perfect fruit.
小偷来了 偷窃食物比自己觅食容易多了
A thief! It's easier to steal than find food for yourself.
对这两只赤椿象而言 这场争夺的结果
For both bugs, the outcome of this dispute
足以改变一生
will be life-changing.
母亲拼命要保住它的战利品时
As the mother struggles to keep herprize,
待在巢穴里的 小赤椿象渐渐不安
her young, back in the nest, are growing restless.
小偷抢赢了
The thief has won.
做母亲的不知道 它饥饿的孩子正离开巢穴
The mother doesn't know that her hungry young are leaving their nest
寻找更好的供养者
in search of a better provider.
它回来了 却发现巢穴空空如也
She returns to find that her nest is empty.
它的孩子找到了小偷的巢穴 这个小偷自己也是个母亲