生命的进化（1979）

and their gorgeous wings carry them on the search,
通过颜色和式样表明它们的身份
proclaiming with their colours and patterns their identities
并以此吸引附近的同一个种类的配偶
and so attracting mates of the same species at close range.
它们仍然以花蜜为食来获得飞行的能量
They still feed on nectar to gain energy to fly,
但是不需要任何食物去修建或更新组织
but they don't need any food to build or renew their tissues.
成长的时间已经过去了
The time for growth is over.
远东的鸟翅蝴蝶是最大最美的种类之一
The birdwing butterflies of the Far East are among the largest and most graceful.
雄性和雌性蝴蝶聚集到一起 求爱活动就开始了
Male and female butterflies meet and courtship begins.
成功的雄性蝴蝶用腹部同雌性蝴蝶结合
Successful males couple with females by joining abdomens.
这些奇迹般的复杂的构造，翅膀
These marvellous, elaborate structures, the wings,
都覆盖着成千上万的以复杂的方式排列的微小鳞片
each clothed by thousands of microscopic scales arranged in intricate patterns,
几天之内，一些种类只在几小时之内
have, within a few days, in some species within a few hours,
完成了它们的目的
completed their purpose.
雄性和雌性互相寻找 这种循环又开始了
Male and female have found one another and the cycle will begin again.
地图蛾是所有蝴蝶和蛾类中最大的一种
The atlas moth is one of the biggest of all butterflies and moths.
但是，当然它的身体同鸟类相比还是很小的
But its body, of course, is small compared with that of a bird.
原因是昆虫身体构造上的另一个局限
The reason is because of another limitation to the basic insect body design.
这只蛾，和所有昆虫一样 通过沿着腹部连续排列的孔呼吸
This moth, like all insects, breathes through a series of holes along its flank.
那是延伸到整个身体的通气管子的开口
They're the openings of tubes with branches that extend throughout the body
把氧气输送到每一个器官
and carry oxygen to every individual organ.
这是一个通过扩散运作的系统
It's a system that works by diffusion.
在短距离内运作状况很好
It works very well over short distances.
但是随着管子长度的增加效率就变低了
But as the length of the tube increases, it becomes less efficient,
最后，变得没有作用
and eventually it becomes impossible.
这就是没有特别大的蝴蝶或蛾的原因
That's why there are no moths or butterflies the size of eagles.
昆虫已经找到了一种方法 来克服尺寸小这一缺点
The insects have found one way of transcending this problem of the limitation of size.
在这一座白蚁山里， 可能有200万到300万的昆虫
Numbers. In this one single termite hill, there must live two or three million insects.
但是有足够的理由把它们作为不是独♥立♥的
But there are good reasons for considering them not as individuals
而是由群体构成的一个统一的强大的超个体
but as together constituting one single great super-organism.
一个超个体，单就动物组织来说
A super-organism that in terms of animal tissue alone
很可能像一只羚羊一样重
must weigh as much as an antelope
而且会轻易获得周围环境中的植物 达到一只羚羊般的重量
and which certainly crops the surrounding vegetation as heavily as an antelope.
当你观察这些强大的整体的时候 比如这个，在澳大利亚西部
And when you look at these super-organisms here in Western Australia,
它们似乎控制了这里的一切
they seem to dominate the landscape as powerfully
就像羚羊控制了东非的平原一样
as antelope dominate the plains of East Africa.
这种控制不仅仅是一种无计划的收集
This type of colony is not just a haphazard collection of individuals
对那些特别的决定分享同一住所 就像人类分享同一座塔楼
who've decided to share the same dwelling like humans in a tower block.
首先它们都是一家人 都是一个庞大雌性的孩子
For one thing, they're all one family. All the children of a single, gigantic female.
其次，它们单个都是不完整的生物
For another, they're all incomplete creatures.
不能单独地长时间存活
Not one of them could survive alone for long.
这些工作的昆虫都没有生育能力
These workers are all sterile.
负责保护社会的士兵都有相当大的颚
The soldiers, which defend the community, have such huge jaws
他们不能靠自己得到食物
they can't feed themselves.
在洞穴中♥央♥的女王身躯非常巨大
And the queen, in the middle of the colony, is so huge
它不能移♥动♥，需要其他昆虫把食物送到她身边
she can't move and has to have food brought to her.
它是一个巨大的产卵机器
She's a gigantic egg machine.
工人们从一面带给它食物从另一面把卵带走
The workers bring food to one end and collect eggs from the other
它产卵的速度达到难以置信的每天3万个
which she produces at the unbelievable rate of 30,000 a day.
有黄蜂那么大的雄性呆在女王身边
The male, the size of a wasp, lies alongside her.
女王对整个洞穴的活动有一个控制♥作♥用
She has a controlling effect on the activity of the colony.
它分泌出一种化学物质 工人们可以通过舔它的身体获得
She sweats a chemical substance which the workers obtain by licking her body,
这种物质的影响使他们得到了该做什么的指令
and this in effect gives them their instructions.
并刺♥激♥他们去做特定的工作
It stimulates them to do certain things.
用指定的食物喂养幼虫把虫卵放到特定地点
To feed the grubs on a particular diet, to move the eggs into special places.
有时候，因为女王指令的改变
At one moment, either because of a change in the queen's instructions
或者因为它产的卵的变化
or because the eggs she lays are different,
它们孵出的不是无生育能力的工人 而是具有生育能力的成年人
they hatch not into sterile workers but into sexually mature adults,
既包括雄性又包括雌性
both male and female.
然后，突然，整个洞穴看起来象是被姻雾笼罩
And then, suddenly, the colony seems to smoke
因为成千上万的个体突然涌现 飞在空中占满了整个国家
as thousands of individuals emerge to fly off and colonise the surrounding country.
当它们落下时，翅膀脱落了 它们再也不需要翅膀了
When they land, their wings break off. They won't be needed again.
现在雄性和雌性都开始了它们的求爱舞蹈
Now the male and female begin their courtship dances.
当它们结合后， 它们将寻找一个裂缝来建造自己的巢穴
Once they've paired, they find a crevice and start to build themselves a nest.
雄性对雌性受精，雌性产下卵 它们将共同建立一个新的社会
He fertilises her, she will lay eggs, and so together they will found a new colony.
一个新的产卵机器将开始工作 各种各样的个体
A new royal egg machine will go into production and the various castes of individuals
将孵化和长大
will hatch and grow.
像这样具有高度组织性的社会行为 在昆虫中经历了多次进化
Highly organised social behaviour like this seems to have evolved several times among insects.
一次在白蚁中，还有螳螂
Once among termites, related to cockroaches,
多次在蚂蚁，蜜蜂，黄蜂之间
and several times among the ants, bees and wasps.
这三个群体都有高度进化的口器 以便它们能比较轻松地建造巢穴
All three groups have mouth parts adapted for chewing so they can easily build nests.
黄蜂还会利以此捕获猎物
The wasps also use theirs for manipulating prey.
用针把猎物麻醉后， 黄蜂把它们带到蜂房♥中给幼虫
Having paralysed their prey with a sting, some wasps pack them into cells with the eggs
这样幼虫孵化出来时就有新鲜的肉吃
so their young have fresh meat when they hatch.
现在，所有的黄蜂和蜜蜂都是社会化的
Not all wasps and bees are social.
许多都是以个体存在， 建造自己的蜂房♥，存储自己的食物
Many of them are solitary, digging and stocking only their own cells.
然而有时候，缺乏合适的巢穴
Sometimes, however, the scarcity of suitable nesting places
使得蜜蜂聚集到互相接近的地方生存
causes otherwise solitary bees to breed close to one another.
当成年蜜蜂从卵中孵出的时候
When these adult bees emerge from their pupae,
雄性蜜蜂争抢着同雌性蜜蜂交♥配♥
the males fight one another to mate with the females.
在相似的地点筑巢的其他种类的蜜蜂， 更加具有社会化倾向
Other species of bee that nest in similar sites are more socially inclined.
沿着堪萨斯河， 一群小蜜蜂在利用一个只有一个入口的洞筑巢
By this Kansas river, a group of little sweat bees are nesting in a burrow with one entrance hole.
一个负责警卫的蜜蜂像哨兵一样在洞口， 只允许自己种类的蜜蜂进入
A guard bee stands like a sentry at the entrance and allows only its own species to enter.
新来的蜜蜂似乎被后面移♥动♥着的蜜蜂 指示了自己该做什么
New arrivals appear to be instructed what to do by the bee moving backwards.
它看起来似乎是这个小团体的统治者
She appears to be the dominant bee in the small colony.
其他外形看起来一样的蜜蜂 完全接受作为下级的角色
Other bees that seem to be identical in form apparently accept subordinate roles,
接受例如修建新蜂房♥的工作
taking on such jobs as building new chambers.
其他的蜂房♥已经完成了
Other chambers are complete.
根据不同的成长阶段， 卵和幼虫已经被放在了不同的地点
They already contain eggs or larvae at various stages of development,
每个身边都有花粉球作为食物
together with a ball of pollen for food.
当所有的工作在进行的时候， 有一只蜜蜂似乎在控制整个群体的行动
While all the work goes on, one bee appears to control the group's activities.
这只蜜蜂似乎能够通过气味辨认其他蜜蜂
This bee can probably recognise others by their smell.
当然，在一个很大的昆虫群体中 触觉和气味在交流中扮演着非常重要的作用
Certainly, taste and smell play a part in the coordination of really big insect colonies
例如小蜜蜂
like those of the honey bee.
工蜂不断从蜂王那里收集化学物质
Workers here are continually collecting chemical substances from the queen.
蜂王是一只巨大的蜜蜂， 在新蜂房♥中产卵前她会检查新蜂房♥
She is the large insect here inspecting new cells before depositing eggs in them.
这种它产生的化学信息在整个蜂巢内传播
The chemical messages she produces circulate throughout the colony
由于工蜂有交换唾液的习惯
because of the workers' habit of exchanging spittle.
和白蚁在陆地上寻找食物不同， 蜜蜂靠飞行寻找食物
Unlike termites, who travel over land to find food, bees fly.
所以它们不会在地上留下气味的痕迹
So they're unable to lay a scent trail on the ground.
蜜蜂需要发展一种不同的方法 告诉同伴食物的位置
Bees have had to evolve a different method of telling co-workers where the food is.
当一只工蜂从一个新的，丰富的食物源回来时
When a worker returns from a new, rich source of food,
它飞成竖着的圆圈形状， 它腿上沾满了花粉
it goes onto the vertical cones, its satchels on its legs packed with pollen.
交换了唾液后，它开始跳舞
After exchanging spittle, it dances.
这次的摇摆舞向左侧倾斜大约20度
That waggling dance is about 20 degrees to the left of vertical,
这表明它发现的花 在太阳左侧大约20度的方向
and that means that the flower she's discovered is about 20 degrees to the left of the sun.
其他的工蜂解读这种舞蹈
The other workers "read" the dance,
舞蹈伴随着声音，其中一些声音传达着信息
which is accompanied by noises which some believe carry information.
离开蜂房♥，工蜂记住了舞蹈所表示的角度
On leaving the hive, the workers remember the angle of the dance
它们向着太阳左侧的这个角度出发了
and set off at the same angle to the left of the sun.
因为能看见偏振光， 所以蜜蜂甚至不需要等待晴天
Because they can see polarised light, the bees don't even have to wait for a cloudless day.
这些昆虫群体的起源完全是个谜
The origin of these colonies of insects presents quite a puzzle.
自然选择是进化的基本原则
It's a basic principle of evolution by natural selection
动物个体始终在进行斗争
that individual animals are engaged in a struggle
为了生存，繁衍，和把基因传递给下一代
to survive, to breed and pass on their genes to the next generation.
的确如此吗？过去有一些昆虫
How could it have been, then, that in the past there was some insect
实际上放弃了自己的权力 为了帮助其他昆虫而劳动
that actually gave up that right and laboured to help another insect
帮助它们将基因传递给下一代？
pass on her genes to the next generation?
看起来答案取决于这些昆虫的繁殖方式
The answer seems to lie in the way these insects reproduce.
在女王产卵之前，她被一些雄峰授精了
Before the queen began laying, she was fertilised by several males called drones.
她把他们的精♥子♥存储在自己身体里， 她保留精♥子♥直到产生雄性的时候
She stored their sperm in her body, but withheld it when laying to produce males
所以它们将只带有女王的基因
so they would carry only her genes.
当她在蜂房♥里产下雌性工蜂的时候 她释放一些精♥子♥使卵受精
When she lays in cells to produce female workers she fertilises the eggs by releasing some sperm.
偶尔，这些卵的其中之一允许成为新女王
Occasionally, one of these is allowed to become a new queen,
最后老女王将带走一群蜜蜂 开始建立一个新的王国
and eventually the old queen will leave in a swarm to start a new colony.
这个复杂体系的结构网导致
The net result of this complicated system
雌性工蜂和新女王姐妹产下的外甥女
is that the female workers and their nieces by the new sister queen
有非常紧密的关系
are unusually closely related.
换言之，她们拥有很高比例的共同基因
In other words, they share a high proportion of common genes.
于是，这些没有繁殖能力的工蜂 在外面为了整个群体的利益劳动的时候
And so, when these sterile workers labour away for the benefit of a colony,
帮助女王传递她的基因
in order to help the queen pass on her genes,
实际上也是为了自己的基因在劳动