Ant Room Tour | Argentine Ants — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:07Hi guys.
2. 0:08In this video, we’re looking at another huge ant colony of mine.
3. 0:13Housed in one of our mega sized acrylic nests.
4. 0:16They are the notorious, highly invasive, Linepithema humile, commonly known, as Argentine Ants.
5. 0:31Originally, these ants were raised up within a single test tube setup.
6. 0:41Over time, I gradually added in more ants, which I collected from the wild.
7. 0:46If you’ve seen my documentary on these guys, you’ll know that argentine ants are rather
8. 0:52unusual, in that, they’ll gladly merge together with foreign colonies of their same species.
9. 1:00I collected the ants by simply lifting up rocks and logs, within areas where I’d seen
10. 1:05them around.
11. 1:07Argentine Ants usually create relatively shallow nests, so, I’d flip a rock and the colony
12. 1:12would be right by the surface, and I’d just scoop them up.
13. 1:17Collecting as many workers, brood, and queens as I could.
14. 1:21Then, I’d introduce them to my colony back home, which I eventually upgraded to one of
15. 1:28our old prototype acrylic nests.
16. 1:29Normally, I wouldn't condone collecting ants like this.
17. 1:32As many ants are important for seed dispersal, cycling and enriching soil, decomposition,
18. 1:40and more.
19. 1:42And so, removing established colonies from the wild like this, especially the rarer species,
20. 1:49can negatively impact the surrounding environment.
21. 1:54Catching queens during nuptial flights is a far more sustainable practice.
22. 1:58And I believe, catching these young newly fertilized queens, makes for a far more rewarding
23. 2:05experience too.
24. 2:06You see the colony slowly progress from just a single queen, tending to her first batch
25. 2:11of eggs, then, see their first generation of workers arrive, and years later, you’ll
26. 2:21have a thriving colony, thousands of ants strong.
27. 2:26Plus, when collecting up a mature colony, the queen is possibly already several years
28. 2:32old, so she, and therefore the colony, likely won’t last nearly as long as a young queen
29. 2:39would.
30. 2:40And of course, it's a huge shock to ants’ system, being taken from their homes, where
31. 2:46they’ve been happily living and thriving in for so long.
32. 2:49To then be placed within an unfamiliar captive environment, the stress from the move may
33. 2:55be too much for them to handle, and possibly result in illness or death.
34. 3:01However, I'm quite comfortable doing this with Argentine Ants, as they are an invasive
35. 3:08species here in Australia.
36. 3:11Very good at displacing native animals, especially other ant species.
37. 3:20So, the less of them out in the wild, the better opportunity native plant and animal
38. 3:29species have to flourish.
39. 3:34Just to clarify, this does, in no way mean, that I condone the practice of keeping exotic
40. 3:39ant species, that is, species which don’t exist in your area.
41. 3:44Like say, keeping Bull Ants over in Europe, or Wood Ants here in Australia.
42. 3:51Or, newly established invasive species, like the incredibly infamous, Fire Ants, who’ve
43. 4:00just recently been introduced to parts of Australia.
44. 4:05Argentine Ants, on the other hand, are already well established where I live, here in Melbourne,
45. 4:10and sadly, are likely here to stay for good.
46. 4:14So there’s a big difference in that respect.
47. 4:17Of course, you will need to take extra care that they don't escape, otherwise it could
48. 4:21potentially make the situation even worse.
49. 4:24So, I recommend only experienced ant keepers take on locally, established, invasive species
50. 4:31like these guys.
51. 4:34I decided to house mine in, extra secure, acrylic nests.
52. 4:42Quite small ones at first.
53. 4:44But, almost a year later, after progressively adding in more and more of these little fiends,
54. 4:50it quickly became apparent, I was going to need to dramatically upgrade their setup.
55. 4:55So, our team got to work on designing something a little more suited to their needs…
56. 5:01So, this is what we came up with.
57. 5:05We call it our mega-sized acrylic nest.
58. 5:08And rightly so.
59. 5:09It’s almost a meter long and half a meter wide.
60. 5:14And as you can see, it’s almost completely filled up with ants.
61. 5:22Remember when I told you my Big-headed ant colony, housed in one of my terrariums, had
62. 5:283 egg laying queens within their colony?
63. 5:30And was exploding in population because of it?
64. 5:33Well, I’d estimate this colony has at least 100 queens!
65. 5:38All those slightly larger ants you see, they’re all queens.
66. 5:46And for every queen present, I’d estimate there’d be around 200 workers tending them.
67. 5:52So, if we do the maths, that puts the colony’s population count at around 20,000!
68. 5:59And with 100 potential egg laying queens around, it won’t be that long before, even this
69. 6:04mega nest will be outgrown.
70. 6:07I’ve noticed the queens like to spread themselves apart throughout the nest.
71. 6:13With usually no more than 3 or so queens within each chamber.
72. 6:16I suspect, this could be a survival strategy.
73. 6:19If the colony were to encounter danger, such as a harmful mold breakout, or an attack from
74. 6:26a predator, with them being separated, it increases their odds in having at least a
75. 6:31few of their queens survive, and thus, allow them to continue the colony’s lifespan.
76. 6:37Not having all your eggs in one basket, as the saying goes.
77. 6:41Quite a clever adaptation.
78. 6:44I’ve also noticed that, not all of the queens receive equal care from the workers.
79. 6:52Some are tended to by hundreds, others, only dozens.
80. 7:00And every now and then, I even notice the workers culling queens.
81. 7:05This one here, had been aggressively bitten to death.
82. 7:11It seems odd.
83. 7:12Why would the colony kill one of their own queens?
84. 7:15Wouldn’t this just be dooming their colony.
85. 7:18Well, it takes a lot of energy to tend to a queen.
86. 7:22The workers are constantly grooming them, feeding them, keeping watch over them, at
87. 7:27the ready to defend and maneuver them away from potential threats, and they must collect
88. 7:33any eggs they lay, and carefully reposition them to a location optimal for their development.
89. 7:40So perhaps these queens weren’t performing as well as the collective colony would have
90. 7:44liked, and essentially, were no longer deemed worthy of all that care.
91. 7:49And so, the ants made the decision to axe them.
92. 7:52Thus, allowing more of their worker’s time and energy, to be spent with a worthier queen.
93. 7:58One who’s more efficient and reliable in producing eggs.
94. 8:01Therefore, benefiting the colony in the long run.
95. 8:03Plus, the culled queens’ bodies don’t go to waste, either.
96. 8:06They use them to nourish their developing young.
97. 8:09Ensuring the wellbeing of the colonies future generations.
98. 8:14You’ll see, the ants love to hang their eggs up in little clusters up on the ceiling
99. 8:22of the nest.
100. 8:24They seem to only do this with their eggs.
101. 8:26The rest of their brood, the larvae and pupae, are normally placed on the floor.
102. 8:31I’m not exactly sure why they do this.
103. 8:34Ants, in general, tend to position eggs within the most humid parts of their nests.
104. 8:39So, I think they may be placing theirs up here, as this is where all the condensation
105. 8:45collects.
106. 8:46And so, suits their needs better than the floor would.
107. 8:48Which is kind of cool in a way, because, it gives me an interesting reverse angle of the
108. 8:52ants that I wouldn’t normally be able to see.
109. 8:57You also might of noticed, throughout the nest, we’ve laser cut all these holes along
110. 9:03the top panel.
111. 9:05These tiny holes provide the ants with a little bit of ventilation.
112. 9:09I’ve noticed they seem to prefer inhabiting the chambers around them, it’s where the
113. 9:15queens and brood mostly reside.
114. 9:18Ventilation is definitely an important factor to consider when constructing a nest.
115. 9:23It’s clear that these ants are quite fond of the fresh air which these little holes
116. 9:27offer them.
117. 9:29What I’ve found most fascinates me about this colony, is the way these ants navigate.
118. 9:36Here, we have the central hub, a crossroad of tunnels, leading to their favoured nesting
119. 9:43grounds, and their foraging area.
120. 9:51The constant flow of activity is almost mesmerizing.
121. 9:55It’s like an ant highway.
122. 9:56It makes you truly appreciate just how determined and productive ants can be.
123. 10:17In terms of diet, I’ve been feeding these ants raw, unprocessed honey.
124. 10:21Which, like most ants, they can’t seem to get enough of.
125. 10:27I’ve also been testing out some of this specialised protein jelly.
126. 10:37For most of my other colonies, I put in just a little scoop, but for these guys, I just
127. 10:46place the whole tub in.
128. 10:47They absolutely love this stuff, and go through most of it within just a few hours.
129. 10:56In most cases, I prefer feeding my colonies, whole raw foods, a variety of fruits, nuts,
130. 11:08seeds and insects.
131. 11:13But aside from the occasional insect or two, this colony has been running solely on honey
132. 11:19and jelly.
133. 11:23Not all ants would be happy with this simple, repetitive diet.
134. 11:26But I’ve found, these Argentine Ants, aren’t at all fussed.
135. 11:30And seem to be developing quite healthily.
136. 11:34Just another of the many adaptations which makes argentine ants such successful invaders.
137. 11:40It’s great for me as their keeper too, as it minimizes the amount of garbage accumulating
138. 11:49in and around their nest.
139. 11:50There aren’t any seed shells, or insect exoskeletons to worry about cleaning up.
140. 11:56But of course, the ants still create garbage.
141. 12:02In the form of their dead.
142. 12:05Situated in their foraging area, is a neat pile comprised of all the ants which have
143. 12:10died from old age.
144. 12:13The ants’ cemetery.
145. 12:17Every now and then, I’ll come in with a bit of folded paper and scoop it out.
146. 12:22Just to keep things nice and clean.
147. 12:28The ants also have designated bathroom areas, because, well, not all their food gets converted
148. 12:34into energy, there’s always excess.
149. 12:38So, whenever the ants need to go, they make their way over to one of these nominated chambers,
150. 12:44and relieve themselves, communally.
151. 12:49These chambers are usually positioned well away from the central ones, where all the
152. 12:53brood and queens reside.
153. 12:55And I’ve noticed, when the ants are within close proximity of them, they’ll frequently
154. 13:00stop and take a moment to clean themselves.
155. 13:04Which they do by licking their forelegs and then scraping them over their bodies, like
156. 13:09combs.
157. 13:10For ants, sanitation is vitally important.
158. 13:15I’ve also noticed, quite surprisingly, these super tiny bugs living amongst the waste.
159. 13:23Even with my lens on the highest magnification setting, they’re still just a spec on the
160. 13:27screen.
161. 13:28I’d say they’d be close to half a mm in length.
162. 13:34But from what little I’m able to see, it’s clear that the ants are interacting with these
163. 13:40tiny things.
164. 13:41They regularly pick them up, carefully run them over their mouthparts, and then, place
165. 13:47them back down again, seemingly unharmed.
166. 13:50So plainly, the ants aren’t interested in killing and eating them.
167. 13:55So, what are they doing with them then?
168. 13:58Perhaps, it’s a similar relationship the many ants have with sap sucking invertebrates,
169. 14:04like aphids and leafhoppers.
170. 14:08Where ants are provided with the excess sugars which these bugs excrete, known as honeydew,
171. 14:17while the sap sucking bugs receive protection from the ants from would be predators, like
172. 14:24ladybugs.
173. 14:26So, in this case, maybe the ants tend to these bugs, in order to consume some kind of honeydew…or
174. 14:35perhaps they recognize their beneficial value, in the way that they consume and break down
175. 14:39their waste.
176. 14:41Improving the sanitary standards throughout their nest.
177. 14:43I’m not too sure.
178. 14:45What do you guys think?
179. 14:46And what do you think these tiny things are?
180. 14:48I’m guessing, some sort of mite.
181. 14:51Really interested to hear your thoughts.
182. 14:59Through regular experimenting, I’ve learned that Argentine Ants prefer a relatively humid
183. 15:04nesting environment.
184. 15:05To hydrate the nest, I simply inject some water into these circular sponges here, which
185. 15:11soak up it right up.
186. 15:16The nest is designed almost identically to our regular sized models, just on a much large
187. 15:23scale.
188. 15:24Each are comprised of 5 separate layers of acrylic, stacked and screwed tightly together.
189. 15:30Between each slide, there’s a tiny amount of space, too small for the ants to pass through,
190. 15:35but large enough for water to.
191. 15:38So once the sponge is soaked full of water, through capillary action, the water seeps
192. 15:43through the tiny gaps between each slide, and reaches the ants of the other side.
193. 15:48Providing them with both a drinking source, and a slow and steady release of humidity.
194. 15:54You’ll notice this mega nest has 6 hydration points.
195. 15:58I like to alternate between each sponge.
196. 16:01So, a few days after hydrating, say these two here, I’ll hydrate the opposite two.
197. 16:10Doing this limits the chance of mold and fungi developing, as the humidity conditions don’t
198. 16:15remain stable enough for them to survive.
199. 16:18For the ants, it’s no problem.
200. 16:21They just simply move themselves over, an undertaking which, Argentine Ants, are extremely
201. 16:26quick and efficient at.
202. 16:32I also have a test tube setup, placed within their foraging area.
203. 16:41The water reservoir is blocked off with cotton, allowing the ants to drink the water as it
204. 16:45slowly seeps through.
205. 16:48So at all times, the ants have access to fresh water.
206. 16:52Which is vitally important for the success of any ant colony.
207. 16:58Their foraging area is quite a decent size, but because it’s positioned directly within
208. 17:03the middle of the nest, it’s almost always crowded with ants.
209. 17:05It’s easily the quickest route from one side of the nest to the other, and the ants,
210. 17:10in their constant quest of efficiency, quickly picked up on this fact.
211. 17:22You may have noticed little bits of cotton within certain parts of the setup.
212. 17:31The ants have actually been burrowing through the cotton within the test tube, and have
213. 17:37slowly began pulling out little strands.
214. 17:41They’ve laid a bunch by the entrance of the tube here.
215. 17:45It looks as though they’ve created a little carpet for themselves.
216. 17:50They’ve also been piling the cotton up by the entrances to their nesting area.
217. 17:57The right side, here in particular.
218. 17:59I’m not exactly certain why they’re doing this.
219. 18:03The lid on their foraging area has thousands of tiny holes, offering the ants with a good
220. 18:08amount of ventilation, possibly a little too much at times, so they may be using the cotton
221. 18:15to carefully limit the amount of air flow coming in and out, in order to regulate the
222. 18:20temperature and humidity conditions within their nest.
223. 18:24Or perhaps it’s for security reasons, they feel much safer having their nest entrances
224. 18:31smaller and less exposed.
225. 18:32Or perhaps, a mix of both.
226. 18:40Through studying this massive colony, in a large-scale nest, where all their activities
227. 18:45are in plain sight, I’ve learned quite a lot about these little guys.
228. 18:49Like, how they prefer to scatter their brood and queens, rather than clustering them together,
229. 18:57and how they often cull of the weaker queens…How they dispose of their garbage…allocate certain
230. 19:09chambers as bathroom areas…And how they potentially recruit other bugs to improve
231. 19:17the colonies sanitation…and so much more.
232. 19:24This is what makes keeping and studying ants so fascinating.
233. 19:29There’s just so much new to learn and discover.
234. 19:33It’s one of those cases where, the more you know, the more you know you don’t know.
235. 19:42So what do you guys think of this mega colony?
236. 19:45Pretty awesome, right?
237. 19:47So far, I’ve taken it into a couple of schools.
238. 19:50The student’s reaction to this thing, and their curiosity of ants in general, has been
239. 19:52really great to see.
240. 19:53It’s still just a prototype for now, but I don’t know, would you guys want to see
241. 19:58something of this scale up on our store?
242. 20:01I’m thinking there wouldn’t be many of you who would have colonies big enough to
243. 20:04warrant one.
244. 20:05But, I could be wrong.
245. 20:10It seems, for many ant keepers that I’ve heard from, their ultimate goal is to have
246. 20:14a massive colony like this one.
247. 20:16But, you’ve got to remember, the larger a colony, the more responsibility.
248. 20:21They’ll need to be fed and hydrated more often, and more time needs to be spent cleaning
249. 20:27their foraging areas.
250. 20:29Plus, ants have a tendency of exponential growth, so once they’re big to begin with,
251. 20:37this often means they’ll quickly outgrow their setups, especially small, fast developing
252. 20:42species, with multiple queens, like these guys.
253. 20:48And if a massive colony of this size were to somehow escape your setup, then it could
254. 20:53be a true disaster.
255. 20:55Personally, I prefer caring for relatively small colonies and slowly watching them progress
256. 21:01to maturity.
257. 21:03Then, once they reach this sort of scale, it’s time to say goodbye, and release them
258. 21:09back into the wild.
259. 21:11Like I did in the past with my rainbow ant colony.
260. 21:14But, of course, because Argentine Ants are an invasive species, this simply isn’t an
261. 21:22option for me.
262. 21:23So, this may be the last you guys see of this colony.
263. 21:26After I’ve felt I’ve studied them enough, I’ll likely be putting them down.
264. 21:31I plan on placing them in a freezer overnight.
265. 21:34The most humane way of going about the process.
266. 21:38It’s a hard thing to do, but will need to be done.
267. 21:42The threat of them somehow escaping, just isn’t worth the risk anymore.
268. 21:48Onto a more lighter note, now, it’s time for our regular contest, where we’ll be
269. 21:53giving away two of our size 2 acrylic nests!
270. 21:57Last video I asked you guys, what your favourite ant species was.
271. 22:01Another tough one…For me, it’s got to be Bull Ants.
272. 22:05Their sheer size, excellent vision, and their rather quirky characteristics, just makes
273. 22:11them stand out from all the rest.
274. 22:14And, if I had to pick one particular species, it’d probably be Myrmecia nigriscapa.
275. 22:21Such a huge and stunning looking ant.
276. 22:25Whenever I come across these guys, they’re always up to something interesting.
277. 22:29Whether it be, on the prowl for prey, building up their nests with debris to act as insulation,
278. 22:39or blocking up rival ants’ nest with their own garbage.
279. 22:50And they’re always very curious as to what I’m up to too.
280. 22:53As soon as they catch sight of me, they immediately stop whatever it is they were doing and become
281. 22:58fixated on my movements.
282. 23:00Sometimes, I have to sit still for a good few minutes before they lose interest, and
283. 23:07then continue on about their business.
284. 23:13Plus, I’ve grown quite attached to the queen I’ve recently begun raising too, seen in
285. 23:21my Bull Ant video here.
286. 23:23She’s quite a quirky one.
287. 23:27And check this out.
288. 23:28Now, her larvae have just begun spinning their cocoons!
289. 23:32So, in another month or two, her first workers will finally arrive.
290. 23:37I’ll be sure to update you guys once they do.
291. 23:40Alright, now back to the contest.
292. 23:44First up, it’s our Instagram winner.
293. 23:46Congratulations to…Abraham!
294. 23:48Who captured a shot of a Weaver Ant queen, Oecophylla smaragdina.
295. 23:55Easily one of my favourites too.
296. 23:57These ants live up in the trees, and form their nests by stretching, and then stitching
297. 24:02their leaves together using their developing larvae’s silk as the thread.
298. 24:08Here in Australia, we call them “Green Tree Ants” after their beautiful, vibrant green
299. 24:13colouration.
300. 24:15Such incredibly unique looking ants.
301. 24:21Now to the winner here on YouTube.
302. 24:23Congratulations to…ChasenWild.
303. 24:25Who answered, “Camponotus consobrinus”, commonly known as the Banded Sugar Ant, after
304. 24:33the yellowish-orange strip running across its abdomen.
305. 24:37A very common species here in Australia, but fascinating to observe, nonetheless.
306. 24:42Especially when they perform their tandem runs.
307. 24:47For the next video’s contest, I want to know, “What’s the most abundant ant species
308. 24:54in your area?”
309. 24:56To enter, leave a comment below, outlining the name of the ant, where you’re from,
310. 25:02and if you can, a little on what you’ve learnt about them too.
311. 25:06And, same as last time, I want you guys to go outside and take some pictures of these
312. 25:11ants too.
313. 25:13Then post them up on Instagram, and make sure to tag or include the hashtag “antsaustralia”,
314. 25:19so we can find it.
315. 25:20We’ll pick one out a single picture over on Instagram, and a single comment here on
316. 25:25YouTube and the winners will each receive one of our size 2 acrylic nests, with the
317. 25:30choice of either, green, red and now, due to popular demand, we’re also making them
318. 25:38in blue.
319. 25:39We’ll announce the winner in the next video.
320. 25:42Where I’m going to be doing another, long awaited, DIY formicarium tutorial, so stay
321. 25:49tuned for that.
322. 25:52As always, thanks for watching this video and I hope you enjoyed.