下面来自出国留学网英语频道整理的科学美国人60秒：揭秘：蚂蚁为何闻起来像蓝奶酪，欢迎阅读。
Ant Smells Like Blue Cheese for a Reason
揭秘：蚂蚁为何闻起来像蓝奶酪
A common response to seeing an ant inside your house is to stomp on it. But if you crush a member of the ant species Tapinoma sessile, you might catch a whiff of a strange smell—a smell that reminds some people of blue cheese, rancid butter or rotten coconut. In fact, the smell is so noticeable that the insect’s common name is the “odorous house ant.” And many people call it the coconut ant.
一般人们在家里看到蚂蚁都会狠狠地把它踩在脚下。但是如果你踩死的是一只酸臭蚁，那你就会沾上一点怪味——会让一些人联想到蓝奶酪、酸腐的牛油或烂椰子的味道。实际上，正因为这种气味实在太明显了，以至于这种蚂蚁的俗名都被称为“香家蚁”。还有许多人叫它“椰子蚁”。
In an effort to figure out why people have these reactions, researchers enlisted visitors at an event called the North Carolina BugFest. One-hundred-forty-three volunteers smelled smushed ants and were asked to identify the scent from four choices: blue cheese, rancid butter, rotten coconut or just other.
为查明人们为何会有这些反应，研究者为“北卡罗来纳州虫子聚会”活动招募来一批志愿者。143名志愿者先闻了闻被踩扁的蚂蚁，然后被要求从以下四种味道中识别出该气味：蓝奶酪、酸腐的牛油、烂椰子、其他某种味道。
Although Web sites overwhelmingly call the smell rotten coconut, almost 40 percent of the human judges picked blue cheese and about 25 percent picked rotten coconut. More than 30 percent went with the choice of other.
虽然绝大多数网站称这种味道为“烂椰子”味儿，但是志愿者中约有40%选择了蓝奶酪、约25%选择了烂椰子、30%以上选择“其他某种味道”。
The scientists then analyzed the chemicals responsible for the ant odor, as well as the smelly chemicals in blue cheese, fresh coconut and coconut buried underground for three days. It turns out that the chemistry of the ants’ scent is indeed similar to that of blue cheese and rotten coconut. But not to fresh coconut. And the researchers note that the Penicillium microbes that turn coconut oil rancid are also involved in the production of blue cheese. The study is in the journal American Entomologist.
研究人员随后分别分析了负责蚂蚁气味的化学物质、负责蓝奶酪气味、新鲜椰子气味以及埋在地下三天的烂椰子气味的化学物质。事实证明，负责蚂蚁气味的化学物质确实与负责蓝奶酪和烂椰子气味的化学物质类似，但它与新鲜椰子的不同。研究人员注意到：使椰子油变腐臭的青霉菌，蓝奶酪中也有。这项研究发表于《美国昆虫学家》。
The researchers also noted that the most common write-in candidate as a description for the ants’ aroma was “cleaning spray.” And one little girl told them that the ants “smelled exactly like her doctor.”
研究人员还指出，关于这种蚂蚁的气味最常见的暗含描述就是“抗菌清洁喷雾。”甚至有个小女孩告诉他们，这种蚂蚁“闻起来像极了她的医生。”