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《中英對照讀新聞》Antagonism rife in the ant world螞蟻世界充滿對立

◎俞智敏

Ants are renowned for their ability to work together, and put the good of the community ahead of personal concerns.

螞蟻向來以能夠彼此合作、把群體利益放在個人考量之前著稱。

But new research suggests that their colonies are actually hotbeds of devious, selfish and corrupt behaviour. And it is the royal family - or male ants carrying a so-called "royal" gene - that are largely to blame.

但一項新研究顯示，螞蟻的聚落其實是奸詐、自私與腐敗的溫床。而且罪魁禍首正是王室，或者帶有所謂「王室」基因的雄蟻。

Scientists have discovered that some males pass the gene on selectively, to ensure that their offspring become reproductive queens, not mere workers.

科學家發現，有些雄蟻會選擇性地把基因傳給下一代，以確保牠們的後代成為具有繁殖能力的蟻后，而非工蟻。

The research used DNA fingerprinting on five colonies of leaf-cutting ants. This revealed that a larvae’s chances of becoming queen depended largely on who its father was.

研究中針對5個切葉蟻聚落進行DNA指紋分析，結果發現螞蟻幼蟲變成蟻后的機率，多半端視其父親是誰而定。

It had been thought that nurture was the driving force in selecting royalty - some larvae were fed certain foods to prompt their development into queens. But now it seems those who have been passed the royal gene have an unfair advantage over the rest.

過去一般認為，營養才是選出王室成員的最主要原因─某些幼蟲會被餵食某些食物，好促使牠們發展為蟻后。但現在卻發現，相較於其他螞蟻，身上帶有王室基因的螞蟻享有不公優勢。

The royal genetic lines are rare in each colony, leading the scientists to think that the ants cunningly spread their sperm around different colonies, so that the unfair advantage to their offspring is not spotted.

每個聚落中的王室基因系都非常罕見，科學家因此認為，雄蟻非常狡猾地把精子散布在不同聚落間，以免其後代的基因優勢被其他螞蟻發現。

新聞辭典

antagonism：名詞，指對抗、對立、敵意，如There’s a history of antagonism between the two teams.（這兩隊一向互相敵視。）

colony：名詞，原指殖民地、海外僑民聚居地，文中指生物的群體、聚落，如a colony of ants／termites／bacteria（一群螞蟻／白蟻／細菌）。

driving：形容詞，指強勁的、精力旺盛的，或驅使的、推動的，如She was always the driving force behind the scheme.（她一直都是計畫背後的重要推手。）

來源：自由時報

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