And speaking of whole new colony, AC Family, I've been keeping this news from you for weeks,
and I am finally ready to make this amazing announcement!
This week, we welcomed a new creature to the AC Family of critters, our new blue crayfish.
But, I am thrilled to announce that we are also welcoming a totally brand new ant colony
to our huge roster of epic ant colonies.
AC Family, this ant colony is one that I know you will love.
Behold, a new army of ants to our growing antiverse, a species known as...
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the bell icon.
Welcome to the AC Family.
Enjoy!
The Bullet Ants of Asia?
Well, that's what I call them, but they're so much more.
Look here.
It's early morning, and in the pre-sunrise twilight, emerges from a discreet opening
in the ground, like a human carrying out the trash on garbage day, is an early riser of
our new ant colony, diligently carrying out the colony's trash like they do every morning
to the colony's garbage site.
It's still dark, but in the moonlight we get a glimpse of this beautiful, giant ant species.
With the strength of a tank, she lifts the remains of yesterday's meal, a cockroach exoskeleton,
across the roughened terrain of her kingdom.
Just look at her!
Isn't she gorgeous?
You can't tell much here but she boasts a stunning blue-black coloured armour.
With great agility and experience, she masterfully carries her package just a little further
more.
She's come to the spot.
She stops to think before deciding, yes, this is spot.
After a brief rest, she quietly makes her way back home.
But before we officially welcome this unique and incredible and dangerous ant colony to
the channel, let's have a look at their glorious kingdom, laying at the foot of El Dragon and
the Hacienda Del Dorado, two great and newly created ant worlds from our previous videos
which tower above, but don't in the least dwarf this new kingdom here.
AC Family, I present to you, the Shire, the blooming stomping grounds of our new ant colony.
It is an elongated sanction of land, full of rich soils, modest but pretty plants and
mosses, beautiful stones and pebbles, and majestic towers of driftwood with outstretched
wooden arms that embrace this sacred space, belonging to some of the most powerful ants
to ever grace this channel.
To keep these giant ants within the territories, is a new barrier which I've begun to use again
known as fluon.
It's super slippery for ants but I've smothered it on both sides of the glass, because it
not only needs to keep our new ants in, but also must keep some old invading ants whose
cursed names we shall not speak, out of the Shire, not that I feel they have any chance
in a battle against our powerful beast of ants anyway, but better safe than sorry, right
AC Family?
Providing some life-giving light to our plants is an LED light spanning the length of the
Shire.
Nerve Plants, scientifically known as Fittonia albivenis, make up the greater vegetation
of the Shire.
Patches of happy green mosses have attached themselves to the most important rocks of
the territories.
Speaking of which, you may have been wondering what this section of the Shire is.
Well AC Family, this is where our new powerful ants are living.
Behind this great rock rampart lays the nest.
If you're a member of the colony, there is only one way into the nest, a single, discreet
opening at the top of this vertical soil tube they've constructed.
But we have another way to look inside!
So let's have an exclusive look at the nest interior of these new ants of ours shall we?
We'll try to be respectful.
If we're gentle, they'll allow us stay awhile.
Pushing the great rock rampart to the side, AC Family behold.
The stone nest of our brand new Diacamma rugosum ants, ants I call the Bullet Ants of Asia,
but are also commonly known as Bornean queenless ants.
These ants are huge and incredible!
So let me first address what you guys might wondering: Are these ants related to the famous
bullet ants of South America?
No, they're not.
These ladies belong to a different subfamily of ants and are native to Asia, however appearance-wise
and behaviour-wise there are similarities, but you what?
In my opinion, these Diacamma ants are a tonne more epic than bullet ants of South America.
Like bullet ants, these Diacamma rugosum ants are extremely aggressive and have a notoriously
powerful sting.
When working around them, I always use tweezers and never ever approach with bare skin.
But unlike bullet ants, as you heard in their common name, this species of ant is queenless!
That's right, the colony you see here lacks a queen.
This entire colony is composed of workers, and they eagerly moved in here two weeks ago.
So how do they reproduce if they don't have a queen, you ask?
Well, their life cycle is pretty incredible and actually completely hacks one of the weaknesses
in ant reproduction.
You see, in an ordinary ant colony, there is a single queen who was born a queen, mates
during a nuptial flight then founds her colony of workers.
But if ever this queen were to die, the colony cannot invent a new queen to start laying
eggs.
The workers just kind of keep working until their all die out naturally, but the colony
as a whole cannot continue on because the primary egg-layer, i.e. the queen is no longer
around to lay eggs.
So once the queen dies, the colony eventually dies.
But with these amazing Diacamma ants, yes, the colony is composed of all workers, but
here's what's amazing: one of these workers, usually the most dominant one, is a mated
worker ant, acting as the colony queen.
She is known as the gamergate.
This gamergate lays all the eggs and otherwise acts as the queen, but because appearance-wise
she is a worker, and is hard to spot among the normal workers.
I have tried to find the gamergate in this colony of 40 or so workers, particularly when
they moved in last week, but I haven't had any luck.
They all look identical to me!
Do you guys see the gamergate?
Her gaster or ant butt is slightly enlargened with eggs, but still so hard to find.
Anyway, here's where their hack comes in, if this gamergate were to die, unlike in ordinary
ants where the death of the queen means the inevitable death of the colony, in Diacamma
ants a new, young worker can assume the position of gamergate, and become the new primary egg-layer.
This new potential gamergate-to-be would release a pheromone which attracts outside male Diacamma
alates into the nest who then mate with her, thereby making her the new gamergate so she
can produce fertile eggs to keep the colony going.
Isn't that just crazy?
But guys, that's not all!
It gets totally savage from here.
Because all these workers desire to become the gamergate, essentially the queen, there
are constant squabbles between new young worker ants wanting to be the gamergate and the current
standing gamergate who must defend her crown.
Now, look at how cut-throat this entire system is!
All new workers emerging from pupae have two little buds, appendages on their thorax called
gemmae.
The presence of these gemmae cause worker ants to become fertile workers and play a
role at producing the hormones which cause workers to challenge the gamergate for her
crown, so what does the current gamergate do to secure the safety of her crown as gamergate?
She waits for new workers to emerge from their pupae, and with the help of her loyal workers,
they tear off the gemmae of new adult ants freshly emerged from pupae, thereby rendering
them infertile and loyal to the gamergate.
This is how the gamergate keeps her status.
In fact, if a gamergate of the colony were to die, all newly eclosed workers from pupae
end up keeping their gemmae and engage in a huge battle royale to become the new gamergate
and mate with males entering the nest.
It's some pretty intense ant Game of Thrones type stuff!
But the gamergate is very meticulous at making sure her workers, essentially her daughters
and possibly sisters, do not overthrow her.
The colonies of this species do not grow too large, only about a couple hundred workers
max, so disarming challengers via gemmae removal is manageable.
Oh yeah, and being a gamergate also prolongs lifespan, another important perk of being
the colony gamergate.
So as expected, securing this highly coveted role in the colony does sometimes lead to
squabbles that cause sustained injuries.
Meet a worker I have come to call "Stiff Leg", due to her hind leg she keeps suspended in
the air as she moves about.
I see her around often foraging the Shire for food.
Despite her injuries, she is quite active and pulls her weight at hunting for food.
Stiff Leg here must have been one of those workers who for some reason wasn't quote unquote
"gemmae castrated" at pupal emergence.
She went untouched into adulthood and probably eventually went on to challenge the current
gamergate, who later managed to subdue her and remove her gemmae.
Either that, or their old gamergate died and she along with other sisters fought for dominance
to become the new gamergate, and later lost her battle but not without sustained injury
to her leg.
Whatever the case, Stiff Leg is an ant I look forward to seeing every day going about her
daily business for the colony.
Despite the seemingly cut-throat social system of these Diacamma ants, they are highly loyal
and strongly bonded to each other.
Inside the nest, they groom and massage each other and care lovingly for the young and
their gamergate.
And now the moment I know you've all been waiting for.
Perhaps their most impressive feature of all, is their amazing hunting prowess!
Each one of these ants is a skilled huntress, each with a stinger capable of delivering
a lethal sting to all prey they find.
I love watching them hunt.
Each ant hunts singly, leaving no rock unturned, no crevice unchecked.
Those large antennae are perfect for seeking out insects to kill and take home to the colony.
These ants love their meat.
So, AC Family, let's feed these blood thirsty werewolves, shall we?
Here is a small pre-killed cockroach, which I shall place into the Shire.
Now let's see how long it takes for one of these ants to find it.
Waiting... still waiting...
Here one comes.
It didn't take more than a few seconds.
The ant inspects the cockroach, identifies that it is dead, and decides to spare her
energy and stinger.
She starts to carry her tasty find back to the nest.
Doing so is not an easy task however.
This roach is heavy!
But it doesn't stop her as she is incredibly strong, as she maneuvers this cockroach skillfully
over this uneven terrain.
But then she comes to the foot of their vertical tube nest entrance.
She clearly is having troubles bringing the cockroach upwards.
She struggles to secure her footing.
It's too difficult.
How will she ever manage to get this roach up?
Then, suddenly, along comes one of her nest mates, and eagerly hops in to help.
Look at that teamwork.
It does seem like it's a long way up to the nest entrance.
Come one ladies, you can do it!
Just when help was needed most, along comes a third worker to help with the lift.
Even with three workers, it's a bit of a challenge, but look at how interestingly these ants deal
with this challenge.
Instead of just endlessly pulling on the cockroach in vain, they will periodically let go in
order to survey the path around them to better understand how to more effectively pull the
roach up.
What an incredible display of ant intelligence, right AC Family?
Finally, a brilliant idea.
One of them decides to pull and climb up the side of the stone, and the other ants follow
suit, and into the nest entrance they plunge.
They drag their new day's worth of food into the nest where it is taken to one of the deeper
chambers for further break down.
Wasn't that just epic?!
But AC Family, wait!
There's more!
If you thought that was cool, that was just a small roach that didn't put up a fight.
Watch how the scene plays out when the prey item is much larger and puts up a bit of a
fight.
This pre-killed superworm, though pre-crushed and split, is still capable of movement due
the nature of its nervous system.
Here comes a worker.
She inspects the superworm and deems it worthy to take home.
It seems motionless, so she proceeds to drag it back to the nest, but this superworm is
heavy!
A second worker comes along to assist, and together they attempt to transport the kill.
Again, this is not easy, but then along comes a third worker, and a fourth... then a fifth.
Even with five ants working on dragging this superworm home, the task seems quite difficult.
Finally, some progress, a wedge over the bumpy ground.
I love watching this take-home process.
Look at how brilliantly this worker is navigating and problem-solving along the way, across
this difficult terrain.
The other ants notice that she is making head way and allowing her to do her thing, thereby
not impeding her progress while also saving their collective energy for when they're really
needed.
They move up ahead to survey the path back to the nest.
One even returns to the nest to let nestmates know of the big prize coming soon.
They all can't wait to taste their first superworm!
But suddenly, the superworm starts to twitch making it difficult for the ants.
This is where things get intense!
The ants react by stinging the superworm, which causes even greater thrashing by the
superworm.
It wasn't long though before the neurotoxin from the ants' stings kick in and the superworm
officially becomes incapable of further movement, making it easy for the ants to proceed with
transport.
These ants are truly the definition of savage.
The mix of sheer power, intelligence, strength, cooperation, and venom lethality make them
in my books, some of the most deadly insect predators in the ecosystems they are part
of!
There is no doubt that they are the great rulers of the Shire.
The ants within the nest all inspect this massive delicacy, as it is paraded through
the main tunnel and into the food chamber where it is stored along with the cockroach
carcass from earlier.
I even see a brood pile there to the left.
What's amazing is the larvae of this species are capable of feeding themselves.
The workers just need to leave food near them, and the larvae consume their fill.
These two food items will definitely nourish our colony for the day, and in the morning,
one of the workers will assume the duty of disposing of the leftovers just as they always
do every morning.
So AC Family, I think you know what time it is.
Time to give this new epic Diacamma ant colony a name!
Leave your name suggestions in the comments section and I will choose my top favourites
for us to vote on together in a future video.
Let's give them a cool and fitting name!
Just as we recently welcomed our new Black Dragons a few weeks ago, we now welcome these
incredible and unique Diacamma ants as beloved residents to the channel, ants that I've been
extremely eager to introduce to you.
I am really hoping they succeed and continue to do well.
But now AC Family, some shocking news!
They always say great things come in threes.
The Black Dragons of El Dragon, these Diacamma ants of The Shire, and at the celestial birth
of these kingdoms was also born another epic ant kingdom!
AC Family, behold, the Shire's twin domain known as, the Grove.
That's right, another ant colony!
Oh boy!
Just when you thought it couldn't get any more interesting!
Our antiverse is diversifying with new colonies and more epic ant discoveries!
I cannot wait for you guys to meet yet this next, equally-as-cool ant colony!
Stay tuned for next week's episode!
And hey, if you're fans of some of the long standing colonies of the channel, don't you
worry!
Big plans are coming for some of your favourite OG ant colonies of this channel, so make sure
you don't miss the episodes coming up.
Hit that SUBSCRIBE button so you don't miss out on the action, and hit that bell icon
to be notified.
Remember to also hit the "Like" button every single time, including now!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, for special clues as to what
the ant species of our third new colony is.
See if you can figure it out before everyone else!
Also, I would like to quickly plug my new daily vlogging channel, with daily vlogs for
those curious about what I work on between these weekly ant videos.
Thanks to all AC Family who have already subscribed!
Now about the issue of 2 videos a week, last week I ran a poll to ask what you guys wanted
and as expected by a landslide you guys wanted two videos a week.
So, it is going to take time, but I am definitely trying to work on something.
In the meantime, feel free to browse through some of my older videos that you may not have
seen.
For example, have you guys played my fully-interactive, choose-your-own-adventure-style ant game where
you get to be an ant and wander around the Hacienda Del Dorado?
Watch it here.
There are plenty of fun ant videos on this channel that are waiting for you to watch
them!
OK and now it's time for the AC Question of the Week!
Last week, we asked:
What does brackish water mean?
Congratulations to Frederik Kjaer who correctly answered:
Brackish water is water that is part freshwater and part saltwater.
Congratulations Frederik, you just won a free e-book handbook from our shop!
In this week's AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What makes these Diacamma ants different from Bullet Ants?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free e-book handbook
from our shop!
Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST.
Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, & SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep
making more.
It's ant love forever!
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