生命（2009）

Her young find the nest of the thief, who is herself a mother.
它回来发现有两倍的嘴巴要喂
She returns to find that she has twice as many mouths to feed.
输家葬送了唯一做父母的机会
The loser has failed at her only chance of parenthood.
这个小偷的日子 突然变得难熬多了
For the thief, life has suddenly got much harder.
现在一颗果实 再也不能维持那么久
A fruit won't now last as long as it did.
小赤椿象在它身上乱爬 还要多吃些
The young clamber over her, demanding more.
它带着另一颗果实回来
She returns with another fruit but her enlarged and
数量增多又喂不饱的 小赤椿象还想多吃点
insatiable brood want still more.
于是它只得日复一日不停劳苦
So she has towork non-stop, day after day.
小赤椿象终于长大 可以照顾自己了
At last, the young become big enough to fend for themselves.
但它们的成功是有代价的
But their success has come at a cost.
它们的母亲已经累死了
The mother has worked herself to death.
现在母亲的身体成了 儿女离家前的
And now her body
最后一餐
has become their last meal before they leave home.
像这样照顾儿女
Looking after the young in such a way
被视为迈向社群生活的第一步
is thought to be the first step towards living in a community.
但有些昆虫想要甜头 就是打死也不合作
But some insects benefit from doing the opposite of collaborating.
它们互相残杀
They kill one another.
道森氏掘穴蜂 体型堪称蜂中之最
Dawson's bee is one of the largest in the world.
它们在澳洲内地 干硬的土壤里筑巢
It nests in the baked soil of the Australian outback.
这片沙漠很少看见花朵 因此这种蜂的蜂群
Flowers are rare in thisdesert, so colonies of these bees
数量稀少，相隔遥远
are few and far between.
掘穴蜂为幼蜂挖掘地道
The bees excavate tunnels fortheir young.
这个社群非常和谐 很难相信这个地方
The community is so harmonious that it's hard to believe that this place
也会发生集体屠♥杀♥事件
is also the setting for mass murder.
一只掘穴蜂昏了头 钻进另一只蜂的洞穴
Tempers do flare
确实闹得不可开交
when a bee gets confused and goes down another's burrow.
但这不过是闹闹意见
But these are minor disagreements.
蜂群现在很平静
The colony is peaceful at the moment
因为这里全是雌蜂
because every bee here is a female.
嗜杀的是雄蜂 现在全都死光了
It's the males that are the killers and they are all dead.
它们的故事要从两个月前说起 那时雌蜂还没露脸
Their story began two monthsearlier, before theappearance of the females.
这是雄的道森氏掘穴蜂
Male Dawson's bees.
雌蜂才刚冒出来
The females are only just emerging,
一只只钻出它们孵化
burrowing their way, one by one,
和成长的地道 身上的气味让雄蜂欲♥火♥夔身
out of the tunnels where they hatched and grew up and their scent enflames the males.
雄蜂身材壮硕，骁勇善战
They arehuge and built for fighting.
每只都想占据 最有利的地位和雌蜂交♥配♥
And each one wants to be in the best position to mate with a female.
一只雌蜂冒出来 每只雄蜂都想一亲芳泽
A female emerges and immediately there's a brawl
立刻打了起来
as every male tries to reach her.
动物很少在打架时残杀同类
It's very rare for animals to kill their own kind in combat,
但这些雄蜂要得到雌蜂
but stinging and biting rivals to death
它们只能把对手螫咬致死
is usually the only way these male bees get a female.
胜利者总算得到了一只雌蜂 它们匆匆的寻找掩蔽
A winner manages to claim a female and the pair race for cover.
同时雌蜂残余的气味 让一只落败的雄蜂
Meanwhile, the female's lingering scent drives one unsuccessful male
变得疯狂嗜血
into a deadly frenzy.
另一只雌蜂 身陷另一场混乱的战局
Another female, caught in the middle of another brawl,
意外赔上了性命
becomes an accidental casualty.
等最后一只雌蜂冒出来时 雄蜂全都死光了
By the time the last female has emerged, every male is dead.
这几场战役下来，最强壮的雄蜂 确定将和
The battles have ensured that the strongest males will have mated
大多数的雌蜂交♥配♥
with the most females.
两个月后，这里成了女人国
Two months later and it's an all female world
下一代已经在地底发育
with thenext generation already developing underground.
昆虫演化出高度精密的社会
Insects have evolved sophisticated societies that,
就复杂性而言 和人类城市的本质最接近
in complexity, are the closest thing in nature to our own cities.
在阿根廷打造这种结构的昆虫
The insects that built this structure in Argentina
主宰了周遭的草原
dominate the surrounding grasslands
这种技术几乎像人类 甚于像昆虫
thanks to skills that seem almost more human than insect.
这是一个大都会 数百万只蚂蚁栖息在这儿
It's a metropolis, a home to millions of ants.
这个蚁群需要大量食物供应
The colony needs a huge supply of food.
周围全是青草
It's surrounded by grass,
但蚂蚁本身连一根也消化不了
but the ants themselves can't digest a blade of it.
尽管如此，还是照样收集
Nonetheless, they collect it.
虽然它们都是同一个物种
Although they're all the same species,
形状和尺寸却各自不同
they exist in different shapes and sizes.
这一只只大颚蚂蚁
The heads of these big-jawed individuals
脑袋算不上聪明 力气倒是不小
are not full of brain... but brawn.
它们是这种蚂蚁名称的由来 叫做割草蚁
They give the species its name. They are grass cutters.
它们每天从早到晚工作
They work all day, every day.
地面上的小蚂蚁充当搬运工
The smaller ants, down on the ground, are porters with the job
把一段段青草搬回蚁巢
of carrying the grass segments back to the colony.
它们力大无穷
They have great strength.
主要的难题在于平衡
Their main problem is balance.
大队蚂蚁把青草运回巢穴
Columns of them carry the grass back to the nest
行经和罗马公路 一样笔直的干道
along highways as straight as Roman roads.
蚁群的不同成员 有各自擅长的任务
Different members of the colony specialise in particular tasks
和人类差不多
in much the same way as people do.
不过就像人类社会 它们也会碰上问题
But, as in human society, there can be problems.
有个搭便车的家伙 大幅加重蚂蚁的负担
A hitch-hiker makes one ant's job much harder.
这玩意儿连草都不是
And this isn't even grass.
一个蚁群每年有 半公吨♥青草的收获量
A single colony harvests half a tonneof grass a year,
胜过平原上其他任何一种动物
more thanany other animal on these plains.
不过既然它们自己不能吃 收割青草干什么
But since they themselves can't eat it, why do they do so?
答案就藏在地底
The answer lies underground.
它们的生存策略 在昆虫世界里
They have one of most extraordinary survival strategies
独树一格
in the insect world.
蚂蚁挖了一个地道网 向下延伸
The ants have dug a network oftunnels that extend downwards
至少七公尺
for over seven metres.
蚁群的正中♥央♥ 就是它们生存的关键，一种霉菌
At the heart of the colony lies the key to their survival. A fungus.
但不是蚂蚁没打扫干净
But this isn't sloppy house-keeping.
这种霉菌只有这里有 别的地方找不到
This is a fungus that is found nowhere else on earth.
蚂蚁勤奋的养殖
And the ants cultivate it assiduously.
大颚蚂蚁把青草剁断 抹上有抗生素作用的唾液
The big-jawed ants chop up the grass covering it with an antibiotic saliva
这种唾液会杀死每一种霉菌 只有这一种例外
that kills every kind of fungus except this one.
蚂蚁就是农夫
The ants are farmers.
它们用青草喂霉菌 让霉菌大量生长
They feed the grass to the fungus and the fungus thrives.
蚂蚁在整个蚁群里 栽种了几十个这种霉菌园
The ants cultivate dozens of these fungus gardens throughout the colony.
这是它们赖以维生的食物
This is what they eat.
这个系统很有效率
The system is so efficient
光是一个蚁群 就能养活五百万个成员
that a single colony can have five million members.
但霉菌也很危险
But the fungus is also dangerous.
霉菌生长时会释放二氧化碳 可能害整个蚁群窒息而亡
As it grows it releases carbon dioxide that could asphyxiate the entire colony.
蚂蚁应付这种危险的手段 非常巧妙
The ants' way of dealing with this danger is ingenious.
它们盖的巢穴
They construct their nest
附有自动空调系统
so that it has an automatic air-conditioning system.
外部表面的造型特殊 只要淡淡清风
The outer surface is so shaped thatthe slightest breeze
就能从中♥央♥气孔吸出滞闷空气
sucks out staleair through these central vents.
同时透过外部气孔 把新鲜空气吸下去
At the same time, fresh air is drawn down through the outer vents,
直接灌入巢穴核心
right into the heart of the nest.
人类自己的社会存在了几千年
Our own societies have existed for thousands of years
但昆虫社会 已经延续了数百万年
but insect societies have lasted for millions.
地球可能有 上千万种不同的昆虫
There may be ten million different kinds of insects
昆虫的数量是人类的两亿倍
and there are 200 million individuals for every one of us.
靠着弹性的武器 和它们的适应力
The insects' flexible armour and their adaptability
昆虫成为地球历史上 数量最大
has made them the most abundant
最多样化的动物
and the most diverse animal group in our planet's history.
墨西哥的马德雷山脉
The Sierra Madre Mountains in Mexico
拥有全世界最惊人的自然奇观
are home to one of the greatest natural wonders.
十亿只亮橘色蝴蝶的拍摄工作
A billion bright orange butterflies
带给‘生命脉动’制♥作♥团队 绝妙的挑战
offered the Life team a wonderful filming challenge.
蝴蝶聚落只存在于 海拔三千公尺以上的高山
The colonies are only found above 3,000 metres
制♥作♥团队在 稀薄的空气中缓慢跋涉
and the team trek there slowly in the thin air.
帝王斑蝶现象在此地 发现的时间不过短短三十年
The monarch phenomenon was only discovered here around 30 years ago
自此之后有一个人 每年都会来研究蝴蝶
and one man has been studying them every year since,
林肯布劳尔教授
Professor Lincoln Brower.
制♥作♥团队若想得偿所愿 让摄影机跟着蝴蝶翩翩起舞
His knowledge will be essential if the team are to achieve their goal
就必须仰赖他的知识
of flying a camera among the butterflies.
很奇妙的是 这些蝴蝶只来这一区
It's amazing that the butterflies only come to this area
面♥积♥约为三十乘六十英里的区域
that's about 30 by 60 miles in extent.
乔林在别的地方也有
There are other areas that have high forests,
在墨西哥其他地区