Anna Dornhaus is peering into a cardboard nest box only an inch on a side, at a “family” of 100 or so European rock ants.

安娜·多恩豪斯正在观察一个每边长一英尺的纸板巢箱，它是大约一百只欧洲岩蚁的“家”。

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Once, I walked under a branch and knocked down an ants' nest, sending thousands of them cascading over me.

一次我走到一根树枝下，打开了一个蚂蚁窝，这导致成千上万的蚂蚁爬满我的全身。

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Individually, these ants are following a simple set of rules and acting on local information: follow the pheromone clues and bring food back to the nest.

作为个体，这些蚂蚁只是遵守一套简单的规则，并对局部信息做出反应：跟随信息素发出的信号以及将食物搬回巢穴。

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