Either way, hell ants are extinct today, and modern eusocial ants are everywhere.

怎样，今天地狱蚂蚁已经灭绝，现代真社会蚂蚁无处在。

Xenomorphs are a eusocial species much like ants, honey bees, and other social insects, with a clearly defined caste system.

Xenomorphs 是一种社会性物种， 很像蚂蚁、蜜蜂和其他社会性昆虫，具有明确定义的种姓制度。

So, how do you tell if a hell ant was part of this wonderfully complex eusocial structure?

那么，你如何判断一地狱蚂蚁是否是这个奇妙复杂的真社会结构的一部分呢？

While hell ants most likely practiced some form of eusociality, they might not have had all the elements of highly eusocial insects.

虽然地狱蚂蚁很可能实践了某种形式的真社会性，但它们可能具备高度真社会性昆虫的所有要素。

And even if they had some characteristics of eusocial insects, hell ants might not have been able to survive if they were only in groups of 100 or so.

即使它们具有一些真社会性昆虫的特征，如果地狱蚁成100左右的群体， 也可能无法生存。

Now, while entomologists can understand modern eusocial ants by studying colonies in action, it gets a bit trickier with extinct groups, like the hell ants, because we can't directly observe their behavior.

现在，虽然昆虫学家可以通过研究行动中的蚁群来了解现代社会性蚂蚁，但对于已经灭绝的群体， 比如地狱蚂蚁， 它会变得有点棘手，因为我们无法直接观察它们的行为。

And ants today are well-known for being eusocial insects—they have a division of labor, create colonies with multiple generations of adults, and many of the adults care for young that aren't their own.

众所周知， 今天的蚂蚁是社会性昆虫——它们有劳动分工，由多代成虫组成群体，许多成虫会照顾属于自己的幼虫。

This gland secretes fluids that are thought to help the ants keep clean, as well as communicate with each other, and this communication is thought to be another part of eusocial behavior.

这个腺体分泌的液体被认为可以帮助蚂蚁保持清洁以及相互交流，这种交流被认为是正常社会行为的另一部分。