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Researchers have made the most in-depth estimate yet of the world’s ant population.
研究人员对全球蚂蚁数量进行了迄今为止最深入的估计。
The total number of these resourceful insects was estimated to be 20 quadrillion.
据估计，这种机敏的昆虫的总数为20千万亿（2万万亿）。
A quadrillion is expressed with a one, followed by 15 zeros.
一千万亿写成数字是1后面加15个零。
The estimate means that there are about 2.5 million ants on Earth for every human.
这一估值表明地球上人与蚂蚁的比例大约是1:250万。
Ants have been on the planet since the dinosaur age.
自恐龙时代以来，蚂蚁就已经存在于地球上了。
The oldest-known ant fossil dates back about 100 million years to the Cretaceous Period.
已知的最古老的蚂蚁化石可以追溯到大约1亿年前的白垩纪时期。
There are more than 12,000 known species of ants.
已知的蚂蚁种类超过12000种。
Generally, the insects are black, brown or red, with bodies divided into three parts.
通常，这种昆虫分黑色、棕色或红色，身体分为三部分。
They range in size from about 1 millimeter to 3 centimeters long.
它们的大小从大约1毫米到3厘米不等。
They like living in soil and attaching themselves to plants.
它们喜欢生活在土壤中，依附在植物上。
Patrick Schultheiss is an insect expert with the University of Würzburg in Germany and the University of Hong Kong.
帕特里克·舒尔特斯是德国维尔茨堡大学和香港大学的昆虫专家。
He was the co-writer of a study that describes the estimate in the publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
他是发表在《美国国家科学院院刊》上的一项研究的合著者，该研究描述了这一估值。
Schultheiss told Reuters that ants play a very important part in almost every ecosystem on Earth.
舒尔特斯告诉路透社，蚂蚁在地球上几乎每个生态系统中都扮演着非常重要的角色。
For example, they aid in the cycling and breaking down process of plants.
例如，它们有助于植物的循环和分解过程。
They help to spread seeds and soil.
它们有助于散播种子和松土。
“But most of all, it is their high abundance that makes them key ecological players," Schultheiss said.
舒尔特斯说：“但最重要的是，正是因为它们数量多，才使得它们成为关键的生态参与者”。
Ants – whose closest relatives are bees and wasps – are native to nearly everywhere on Earth, except for Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland and some island nations.
蚂蚁的近亲是蜜蜂和黄蜂，除了南极洲、格陵兰岛、冰岛和一些岛国之外，地球上几乎所有地方都有蚂蚁。
"I was amazed that the ants' biomass was higher than that of wild mammals and birds combined,” said Sabine Nooten, another lead researcher.
另一位首席研究员萨宾·努滕说：“蚂蚁的生物量竟然比野生哺乳动物和鸟类的总和还要高，这让我感到很惊讶。”
She noted that the insects’ biomass reaches 20 percent of the human biomass.
她指出，这种昆虫的生物量达到了人类生物量的20%。
That, she said, shows the importance of their influence in nature.
她说，这表明了它们在自然界中的影响力的重要性。
The scientists based their research on 489 studies of ant populations across the continents where they live.
科学家的研究基于对蚂蚁所在大陆的489项蚂蚁种群研究。
"Our dataset represents a massive collecting effort of thousands of scientists,” Schultheiss said.
舒尔特斯说：“我们的数据集展现了数千名科学家的大规模收集工作”。
He added that the team used the data to estimate the number of ants for different areas of the world as well as the total worldwide number and biomass.
他还说，该团队使用这些数据来估计世界不同地区的蚂蚁数量以及全球蚂蚁总数和生物量。
Most ants were estimated to live in the hottest and wettest parts of the world.
据估计，大多数蚂蚁生活在世界上最炎热和最潮湿的地区。
Forest environments and dry areas had larger populations than cities.
森林和干旱地区的蚂蚁数量比城市多。
"There are certain parts of the world where we have little data and we cannot reach reliable estimates for all continents,” Schultheiss said.
舒尔特斯说：“在世界上的某些地区，我们几乎没有数据，我们无法对所有大洲做出可靠的估计。”
Africa is one such example.
非洲就是其中之一。
“We have long known that it is a very ant-rich continent but also very under-studied," he added.
他还说：“我们早就知道这是一个拥有大量蚂蚁的大陆，但却对它缺乏研究”。
Ants generally live in colonies, some of which include millions of insects.
蚂蚁通常是群居的，其中一些蚁群包括数百万只蚂蚁。
They are divided into groups with different jobs, such as workers, soldiers and queens.
它们被分为从事不同工作的群体，如工蚁、兵蚁和蚁后。
The workers, all females, care for the bigger queen and her babies.
工蚁都是雌性蚂蚁，负责照顾体型较大的蚁后和她的幼崽。
They also take care of the nest and search for food.
它们还照料巢穴和寻找食物。
Males mate with the queens, then die.
雄性蚂蚁与蚁后交配后死亡。
Schultheiss said that while humans might find ants "annoying,” there are many reasons we should be thankful for their existence.
舒尔特斯说，虽然人类可能会觉得蚂蚁“让人讨厌”，但我们有很多理由应该感谢它们的存在。
"Think about the amount of organic matter that 20 quadrillion ants transport, remove, recycle and eat,” he said.
他说：“想想2万万亿只蚂蚁搬运、去除、回收和吃掉的有机物质的数量”。
In fact, Schultheiss said ants are so necessary for a series of biological processes that they can be seen as ecosystem engineers.
事实上，舒尔特斯说，蚂蚁是一系列生物过程的必需，它们被视为生态系统工程师。
He noted that the late ant scientist E.O. Wilson once called the insects 'the little things that run the world.'
他指出，已故的蚂蚁科学家威尔逊曾将这种昆虫称为“统治世界的小东西”。
I’m Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
