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2 Ant Colonies Race Through Obstacles & Meet After 30 Days (1,000 Red vs Black Ants) - [REUPLOAD] — Transcript

by Wild Experiments · 2,395 words · 419 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:003 months ago, I created two rival ant
0:02civilizations on the left side of this
0:04terrarium with a glass wall keeping them
0:06apart.
0:08And all the way on the right, I built
0:10the ultimate ant paradise [music]
0:11overflowing with the foods ants love
0:13most.
0:15But standing between the colonies and
0:16paradise was an insane obstacle course
0:19with dangerous [music] predators hiding
0:20along the way.
0:23To reach paradise, the ants would
0:25somehow have to find a way through every
0:27challenge in their path. And that's not
0:29even the craziest part.
0:31Because there are two rival colonies,
0:33but only one paradise.
0:35Whichever colony gets there first
0:37[music] could take control of
0:38everything.
0:39But if both colonies somehow survive the
0:41entire [music] course, they'll finally
0:43come face to face. Will they share
0:46paradise, or will they go to war for it?
0:48[music] Let's find out. It all started
0:50on day one. I built this divided
0:53ecosystem with a solid glass wall down
0:55to the center to keep the colonies
0:57strictly separated.
0:59Then I coated the glass with a slippery
1:01chemical barrier so neither colony could
1:03climb over it.
1:06I filled paradise with their favorite
1:08foods and scents they could detect from
1:10a distance.
1:12Next, it was time to introduce the
1:14rulers of these two worlds.
1:16Meet the first queen. She had mated
1:19years earlier and stored the sperm
1:20inside her body, allowing her to produce
1:23an entire [music] colony.
1:25I released her into the volcanic
1:26landscape along with her army of
1:28workers.
1:30Next, I placed a second queen on the
1:32other side into the desert landscape.
1:36Within minutes, both colonies got to
1:38work.
1:45They started digging and before long,
1:47the ants had built their nest.
1:50To make sure the ants had everything
1:52they needed in their territory, I gave
1:54each colony some of their favorite food,
1:56seeds for the desert ants and honey for
1:58the volcanic ants.
2:00The black workers surrounded the honey
2:02and started drinking.
2:06But looking closer, I noticed something
2:08strange. The queen wasn't eating.
2:14Turns out, instead of getting food for
2:16herself, the queen waits for her workers
2:19to bring it directly to her.
2:20The workers store the honey in their
2:22abdomen, then regurgitate it directly to
2:24the queen.
2:25And sure enough, one worker walks up and
2:28starts feeding her directly.
2:40Some special workers have larger
2:41abdomens. They literally force-feed
2:43themselves until their stomachs swell to
2:45enormous sizes, turning themselves into
2:47jugs of food for the entire colony.
2:50With the nest ready, the queens moved
2:52underground to raise the next
2:54generation.
2:55Both colonies had everything they needed
2:57to live comfortably, so there was no
2:59reason to leave their territory.
3:01Or so I thought. Ants are constantly
3:04searching for new resources. It wasn't
3:06long before the red scouts picked up the
3:08scent of paradise and headed straight
3:10toward it.
3:11But they immediately ran into their
3:12first massive obstacle. A giant sticky
3:15river was blocking the entire path. The
3:18liquid was safe for the ants, but one
3:20wrong step could leave them completely
3:22trapped. If the ants want the paradise,
3:24they have to find a way across. But to
3:26give them a little help and a reason to
3:28try, I placed tiny traces of food scent
3:31across the river, creating a trail they
3:33could follow all the way to the other
3:35side.
3:36Eventually, one ant rushed straight into
3:39the river and instantly, she got stuck.
3:48Luckily, she managed to pull herself
3:49free and scramble back to the shore.
3:52Then a second ant attempted to cross.
3:55But this time [music] she wasn't so
3:57lucky.
3:59A few minutes later, a fellow worker
4:01spotted her and rushed over to help.
4:04She grabbed onto the trapped ant and
4:06began pulling from the shore, slowly
4:08dragging her back towards safety.
4:17This challenge was quickly turning into
4:18a disaster. It looked like the ants
4:20pulled completely abandoned the river.
4:24Or so I thought. A few moments later,
4:26they came back to the shore with sticks
4:28[music] and pieces of debris. They
4:30dropped the sticks directly onto the
4:32sticky surface.
4:37Then another ant did the same thing.
4:49One stick at a time, the [music] ants
4:51began the river.
4:55Maybe they were simply trying to reach
4:57the food particles I had placed across
4:58the surface. Either way, they were
5:01somehow getting farther and farther
5:02across.
5:03Ants are known for their insane ability
5:05to work together to accomplish
5:07impossible task.
5:08When they encounter an obstacle, they
5:10can link their bodies together to form
5:11bridges or even build pathways across
5:14water.
5:15While the red scouts were busy building
5:16their crossing, the rival colony had
5:18disappeared underground.
5:20Eventually, the red ants conquered the
5:22sticky river. But making it across only
5:24led them straight into something way
5:26worse.
5:28Because directly ahead was a massive
5:29canyon, splitting the path completely in
5:32[music] two.
5:33And at the bottom was acid.
5:36I'm just joking. These ants are my pets.
5:38I'm not going to hurt them. But there is
5:40water at the bottom. For an ant, falling
5:43could mean getting trapped with no easy
5:45way back out. But that wasn't even the
5:47craziest part because this flooded
5:49canyon was home to a six-eyed sand
5:51spider. These spiders are masters of
5:54camouflage. They bury their entire body
5:56beneath the sand becoming nearly
5:58invisible. Then when prey gets close
6:00[music] they burst out and strike which
6:03meant the ants had no idea what was
6:04hiding just inches away. The scouts
6:07quickly spread out searching every
6:08[music] possible route to the other
6:09side.
6:11A few moments later things started
6:13getting dangerous. Several ants had
6:15fallen into the canyon and were now
6:17floating in the water with no way back
6:19up.
6:21For a moment they seemed completely
6:23stranded.
6:25Yet somehow they surprised me again.
6:33The ants linked themselves together
6:34[music] in a tiny living chain.
6:39And within moments they slowly [music]
6:41pulled themselves toward the shore.
6:44This is what makes ants so fascinating.
6:46During floods some species can link
6:48their bodies together to form living
6:50rafts. They can drift for weeks until
6:52they reach dry land.
6:54The ants had escaped the water but they
6:56still hadn't crossed the canyon and
6:58things were about to get even worse. The
7:00spider climbed out of the canyon moved
7:02onto a busy ant path [music] and hid
7:04beneath the sand.
7:08A few moments later one ant wandered
7:10dangerously close.
7:12At any second the spider could explode
7:14out of [music] the sand.
7:24Luckily the ant slipped past and
7:26escaped.
7:27But seconds later she turned around and
7:29went straight back at the spider.
7:31>> [music]
7:31>> I'm not sure what she's trying to do.
7:33This could turn deadly for the ant.
7:39Maybe the ants were simply too small to
7:41trigger an attack, or maybe the spider
7:44just wasn't hungry. Whatever the reason,
7:46these two were suddenly more like
7:47neighbors than enemies.
7:49A few hours later, I looked over at the
7:51other side of the canyon and couldn't
7:53believe what I was seeing.
7:55The ants were already on the other side.
7:57But how was that even possible?
8:01Turns out they had dug underneath the
8:03canyon and tunneled all the way to the
8:04other side.
8:06They completely [music] cheated the
8:07challenge.
8:10But I thought that wouldn't exactly be
8:11fair to the other colony. So, [music] I
8:13placed a massive boulder directly over
8:15their tunnel exit, blocking the shortcut
8:17and forcing them to find another way
8:18across.
8:23Within seconds, [music] the ants swarmed
8:24the boulder. Ants are extremely
8:26sensitive to changes around their nest.
8:28Disturb their nest and the entire
8:30[music] colony can react almost
8:31instantly. Some ants grabbed onto the
8:34string attached to the boulder and
8:35started pulling.
8:37Others began digging a second tunnel
8:39around the blockage, and within minutes,
8:40[music] they had completely outsmarted
8:42the obstacle again.
8:45Soon, ants were traveling [music] back
8:46and forth through their brand new tunnel
8:48like the boulder wasn't even there.
8:50By this point, the ants were already in
8:52the fourth challenge,
8:53>> [music]
8:53>> the carnivorous jungle. The path ahead
8:56was packed with carnivorous plants,
8:58Venus flytraps that could snap shut in
9:00seconds, pitcher plants with deep,
9:02slippery funnels, and sundews [music]
9:04covered in sticky droplets that can glue
9:06insects in place.
9:07And somewhere inside this jungle lives
9:09an assassin bug.
9:11When assassin bugs catch their prey,
9:13[music] they stab it with a needle-like
9:15mouth part and inject digestive saliva
9:17that liquefies the tissue inside. Then,
9:19they suck the liquid back up.
9:21And some species are known to carry the
9:23bodies of dead ants on their backs as
9:25[music] camouflage. To reach the next
9:27stage, the ants would have to somehow
9:29make it through this entire jungle
9:31without getting trapped.
9:34A few moments later, as the ants were
9:36navigating through the carnivorous
9:38plants, [music] I noticed one red scout
9:40already heading straight towards
9:41something just as dangerous, a pitcher
9:44plant. Drawn in by [music] the sweet
9:46nectar around its opening, she climbed
9:48higher and higher until she reached the
9:50slippery edge.
9:51One wrong step and she could slide
9:53straight down into the plant's pool of
9:55digestive [music] acid.
10:02Over the next few days, the plant will
10:04slowly process its catch. But the jungle
10:06wasn't all bad news for the ants. The
10:09carnivorous plants had attracted many
10:10fruit flies and the ants immediately
10:12started hunting them. For once, this
10:15deadly jungle had actually become a free
10:17buffet.
10:23But while the ants were busy hunting
10:25flies, [music] something completely
10:27unexpected happened back inside the red
10:29colony's territory. A huge roach had
10:32somehow gotten into the red colony's
10:33territory and it was way bigger than any
10:36of the ants.
10:48It started walking around like it owned
10:50the place. A cockroach is so tough that
10:52it can survive being squished by 900
10:54times its own [music] body weight. To
10:56this colony, any intruder is a threat.
10:59One ant tried to take it on.
11:02Then the entire colony started [music]
11:04to work as a team.
11:15Eventually, the ants overwhelmed the
11:17roach and won the fight. And while the
11:19main colony defended the nest, the
11:21scouts found a safe way through the
11:23jungle, [music]
11:23learning to dodge the traps along the
11:25way. But now, only one [music] obstacle
11:28stood between them and paradise, the
11:30frozen river. The river was only about
11:33[music] 35° Fahrenheit, making it
11:35dangerously cold for an ant to fall
11:37into.
11:38Worse yet, the river was too deep for
11:40the ants to tunnel beneath it.
11:44So, I decided to put their courage to
11:46the ultimate test. I placed an narrow
11:48bridge across the freezing river where
11:50one wrong step could cause them to fall
11:52straight into the cold river.
11:55Almost immediately, one ant found it.
11:57>> [music]
11:58>> She stepped onto the bridge and started
11:59crossing.
12:01The first ant had [music] finally
12:03reached paradise.
12:07But within a minute, she was already
12:08heading [music] back.
12:11You see, when scout ants discover a
12:13valuable food source, they often return
12:15to the colony and recruit others. And
12:17that's exactly what happened. More red
12:19ants began following her path, and
12:21within minutes, the red colony had
12:22flooded into [music] paradise. The ants
12:24were feasting on everything paradise had
12:26to offer.
12:29Almost immediately, the ants started
12:31digging two separate tunnels, one near
12:33the frozen river and another near the
12:35center of paradise. But there was a
12:37notable difference. The ants beside the
12:39cold river were moving much slower.
12:45This is one of the ants' special
12:46abilities, because in the winter, when
12:48it starts to snow and temperature drops
12:50drastically, the ants are basically
12:52biologically built to start moving
12:54slower. That way, they can conserve as
12:56much energy as possible and go hide
12:58deeper underground.
13:01While the red colony was already
13:02settling into paradise, I looked over
13:04the glass wall and my jaw dropped.
13:07There were black ants on the other side
13:08of the glass.
13:11Turns out, these ant species are
13:13exceptionally good at digging. In
13:15nature, they dig deep underground nests
13:17to escape the brutal desert heat and
13:19reach cooler, more [music] stable
13:20conditions below. And somehow, they had
13:22used that ability to tunnel beneath
13:24almost the entire course, emerging right
13:26next to the carnivorous jungle. They had
13:29basically skipped every challenge.
13:33But their shortcut came with a problem.
13:35One black scout was already getting
13:37dangerously close to a sundew. Sundews
13:39may look harmless, but every leaf is
13:41covered in tiny hairs coated with
13:43extremely sticky droplets designed to
13:45trap insects. The ant stepped closer,
13:49then closer, and instantly she was
13:51stuck.
14:12Luckily, the ant [music] broke loose and
14:13escaped.
14:15With the path clear, the black colony
14:17was finally ready to make its way into
14:19paradise.
14:21I placed a bridge across the river,
14:23giving them a direct path into paradise.
14:27Almost immediately, one of the black
14:29ants crossed the bridge to the paradise.
14:32Now, for the first time, ants from both
14:34rival colonies were inside the same
14:36paradise, and that could be a huge
14:38problem.
14:40When ants from rival colonies encounter
14:42each other, they often recognize each
14:44other as enemies, and those encounters
14:47can quickly turn into fights. So, what
14:49would happen here?
14:51Would they share the paradise, or would
14:53it turn into a battlefield? We're about
14:55to find out.
14:58Within the first few [music] minutes, a
15:00red ant suddenly lunged forward,
15:02snatched a black ant, and dragged her
15:03away like a prisoner.
15:06And I was afraid this was only the
15:08beginning.
15:09Soon after, another black ant came
15:11face-to-face [music] with one of the red
15:13ants.
15:16The red ant immediately moved toward
15:18her.
15:20It looked like she was about to attack.
15:39For a second, I thought they were
15:40fighting.
15:42But she was tapping the black ant with
15:43her antennae, likely picking up chemical
15:45signals and trying to figure out exactly
15:47who she was. And for several tenths
15:49seconds, the black ant barely moved.
15:52Then, she slowly walked away, and
15:55somehow the red ant let her go. This
15:57time, the two rivals simply turned.
16:01A few minutes later, another black ant
16:03entered [music] paradise, and several
16:05red ants immediately rushed toward her.
16:07For several tenths seconds, it looked
16:09like this could turn into a fight at any
16:11moment.
16:26They kept moving back and forth around
16:28her, tapping her with their antennae.
16:30But somehow, the red ants backed [music]
16:32off.
16:43With tensions rising between the two
16:45colonies, [music]
16:46I knew things could get dangerous. So, I
16:48decided to remove the bridge before any
16:50more fighting could break out.

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