Let's wish the Blood Legion a long and prosperous life ahead.
We did good today, AC Family, and it seems all was well in the Antiverse today.
At least that is what I thought....
For when I looked into the Hacienda Del Dorado that day, I was not prepared to see what I
saw.
Oh no!
I can't believe this.
They're back!
This is not good!
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Welcome to the AC Family.
Enjoy!
I can't believe they've come back!
The Pharaoh ants swarmed the western grounds of the Hacienda Del Dorado, like a blood-thirsty
army, sweeping the lands to take whatever they could eat, drink, steal, and kill.
In case you guys haven't learned about pharaoh ants yet, these ants are probably one of the
most devastating ant invader species in the entire world!
They've conquered nearly all nations of the globe, destroying native fauna, capable of
joining forces with other pharaoh ant colonies to form supercolonies that span entire countries
with thousands if not millions of queens, and have been known to even transmit diseases
and sickness to humans.
If you've been following the channel for awhile, you know we've had wars against these ants
in the past.
Two years ago, they annihilated one of our most beloved ant colonies, and we had to literally
trap them to rid the Antiverse (our Ant Room) of their devastating work.
If you haven't seen that video, be sure to watch our War vs Pharaoh Ant episode from
two years ago after this video!
But now two years later, they're back, and this time they've targeted the Hacienda Del
Dorado!
But why?
What is it they want here?
Suddenly, a rustling in the shadows caught my eye.
Little did I know there was actually already an epic battle happening right in the thick
of things!
A large warrior was weaving her way through the swarm of ants dealing her own damage as
she plowed through the invaders.
It was a fierce worker of the Jawbreakers, our trap-jaw ant colony that just recently
acquired these lands.
Now watch this...
A panic among the pharaoh ants breaks out, as they learn of her lethal presence.
The emergency pheromone has been released to let all pharaoh ants in the area know that
there is danger amongst them.
The alarm message spreads quickly to the rest of the colony, and the ants clearly begin
to enter hi-jinx.
It was at that moment that I began to panic, as flashbacks of the Pharaoh ants murder of
our Titans two years ago replayed in my mind.
Were the Pharaoh ants here to kill and ransack the Jawbreakers?
Was there going to be an ultimate ant war of the colonies?
I hoped not!
The trap-jaw ant delivered powerful blows at the ants that came within her mandibles'
reach.
Now, if you're thinking that her great size means definite victory against tiny ants like
these Pharaoh ants, think again.
In the microworld, the rules are completely different, and in many cases being smaller
is advantageous especially when there are many of you!
But either way, this trap-jaw ant was not going to let these tresspassers win, clearly
unafraid to face the pharaoh ants head on, leaving several immobile and painfully twitching
their way to death on the ground.
I knew those trap-jaws were devastating weapons of destruction.
In case you're new to the Jawbreakers, trap-jaw ants possess one of the fastest moving appendages
of any animal, with a jaw shutting force peaking at 300 times the body weight of the ant, kinda
like dropping 12 SUVS onto something if the trap-jaw ant were human-sized.
One blow from those jaws is enough to deal irreparable, lethal damage!
The Trap-jaw ant began to circle the periphery and attempt to attack the colony from the
sides.
I bet she was trying to get them to retreat or keep them from advancing further into the
territories by attacking their scouts.
I watched as her jaws bang bang killed pharaoh ants on the spot.
Wow!
She was definitely a warrior!
I then held my breath as she began to plunge deep into the swarm.
This was so dangerous of a move for her, as she could have been subdued by the aggressive
swarm.
She slowly proceeded in, slashing her way forward with her jaws.
Whoa!
See that ant she sent flying?
She was determined and fierce seeking pharaoh ants that dared come close and killing them
effectively with her jaws.
As all of this ant blood shed was happening, I noticed that the pharaoh ants had made their
decision.
It looked like they had decided to retreat.
It was not worth remaining in these lands.
I tried to see where they were retreating to, and then spotted where they had broken
in and entered the kingdom.
Ah ha!
Up there!
The pharaoh ants were heading out of the Hacienda Del Dorado, a good sign as it meant they weren't
nesting in here.
But, I knew I had to find where their main nest was, as I was certain it was somewhere
in the Ant Room.
More about that later.
But back on ground level, I was mind-blown that it only took this one trap-jaw ant to
send the entire swarm of pharaoh ants retreating like hurt, yelping puppies, and many unlucky
workers lay dead or twitching in pain on the ground, as she BANG finished off any stragglers
sticking around.
I guess nobody messes with the Jawbreakers!
But AC Family, check this out!
I noticed something happening here in this area.
As the final retreating pharaoh ants began to vacate the area, I suddenly noticed this.
A herd of springtails, who we call the Springcleaners, were being rounded up in a group like sheep.
The Pharaoh ants were up to something!
And suddenly, I realized the pharaoh ants were actually catching the springcleaners
and taking them home!
This was why the pharaoh ants were invading the Hacienda Del Doroado.
They were here to steal Springtails as food!
This was a big problem because not only are the Springtails vital at keeping the lands
clean of mold and decaying matter, but as you may recall, springtails are a primary
food source for the Jawbreakers.
So although the pharaoh ants may prove unbeatable against the Jawbreakers, having the pharaoh
ants completely exhaust the lands of it springtail population would be lethal to the Jawbreakers
and to all life in the Hacienda Del Dorado.
This was not good!
In just a few minutes, the entire pharaoh ant colony was gone, having stolen a handful
of Springcleaners to take back to their camp to feast.
We had to find where they were nesting, AC Family, and we had to find it immediately!
But guys, you won't believe where they were brooding, and the damage they'd done in the
process.
This episode is sadly not a happy one.
AC Family, looking around the Ant Room that night, I was not prepared to see what I saw.
AC Family, behold, at a relatively undisturbed corner of the Antiverse, lay the Palace of
Mounds, home to our resident termite colony the Terminators.
But something within the Palace of Mounds caught my attention.
Have a look, guys!
Towards the ground, the familiar glistening of wings against the light, brought complete
joy and delight to my heart!
OMG!
A termite nuptial flight was happening!
The termites were farmed from just a king and queen pair I saved during an actual wild
nuptial flight happening in my Ant Room last year.
They eventually grew underground and and started creating some impressive wooded mounds and
structures from wood and mud, including these cool tunnels built up against the glass.
Since then, I rarely opened up the Palace of Mounds because the termites actually had
all they needed in life in their living space, i.e. moisture, soil, and decaying wood.
It was only that one time to film for an episode that I excavated a chunk of termite mound
to show you guys their progress.
We saw babies, their soldier caste, sadly no queen and king, but we knew they were well
on their way to success, so I gave them all the privacy they needed...
And alas tonight, AC Family, proof of their success had come to light, as the termites
were having their very first nuptial flight!
I can't believe they had produced reproductives in just a year and...
Wait.. hold on.
Oh no!
When I looked closer I couldn't believe my eyes.
Pharaoh ants!
Oh no!
It was a pharaoh ant nuptial flight happening in the Palace of Mounds!
My heart sank, as I scanned the territories of our beloved Terminators.
The pharaoh ants were all over the place, not a single area free of the pharaoh ant
invaders.
They were all over the driftwood rejoicing festively with their alates ready to mate.
They covered every termite structure, mound, and landmark.
No!
This was really bad news!
The idea that the pharaoh ants had killed our Terminators haunted me.
I mean could the Terminators have possibly retreated deeper into their subterranean tunnels
to escape these pharaoh ants?
How did they even get into this tightly sealed terrarium?
How long have they been brooding in here?
The fact that there were so many and a tonne of alates suggested to me they had to have
been living in here for awhile, and because this was the least maintained territory in
the Antiverse, I hadn't noticed they had slipped in right under our noses to grow stronger
in numbers and unleash their ultimate spawning event which would seal the deal to conquering
the entire Ant Room!
Can you imagine hundreds of pharaoh ant queens pregnant and nesting in the Antiverse?
That would be disasterous!
I followed their parade of alates up to the top of the terrarium.
I had to see where they had managed to slip inside and if they were sending the alates
out of the terrarium somewhere.
The parade took me to this little corner of the tank.
There!
Oh no!
That's how they managed to enter.
The Pharaoh ants were small enough to fit through the little space between the glass
and the sliding track.
They were also sending out the alates!
Lucky for us, I noticed later that the only alates that were emerging were the males.
I saw no queen alates on site.
This to me said that this wasn't a full out nuptial flight for these pharaoh ants, but
just a sort of practice run.
Sometimes ants for whatever reason will have these practice or mock nuptial flights where
only males or only females will emerge.
This was great news because it meant there had been no mating within our Antiverse yet.
We managed to catch this supercolony of pharaoh ants right on time, in the beginning stages
of a nuptial flight, but all after having used the Palace of Mounds as their temporary
brooding camp.
AC Family, I'm afraid to say this but we had no choice.
The Palace of Mounds was going to leave the Antiverse tonight.
But the burning question now was, what happened to the Terminators and were they still even
alive in there?
After completely cleaning out the Palace of Mounds, it is with a heavy heart that I announce
that I saw no Terminators anywhere, only tonnes of Pharaoh ants, brood, and queen and male
alates.
I'm so sorry, AC Family.
I feel like I've failed you guys.
It was an important lesson to me that although a created kingdom had all it needed to sustain
itself, it's still important to do regular check ups just to ensure they're ok.
Thankfully, all my other ant colonies and inhabitants in the Antiverse were safe, including
the Lumberjacks, the colony of carpenter ants sitting on top of the Palace of Mounds.
I was certainly going to miss the Terminators, and although my neighbours who may be watching
this episode rejoicing, I'm super sad at this termite colony loss.
They were such an interesting and unique addition to the Antiverse, gone too soon.
I hope to one day keep termites again, perhaps in a different, impenetrable setup, perhaps
in an AC nest or something.
May you Rest in Peace, Terminators.
In the ongoing story of the Ant Room, and all the inhabitants that live in it, sometimes
it's a tale of success and triumph, sometimes it's a story of wonder and awe, and other
times, it's tragedy and loss.
These real life stories happening within the walls of the Antiverse are microcosms of what
actually happens in the outside world of the wild.
Life falls prey to life all the time, everywhere, every day.
But one should remember that the prey also gives life to life, and it's this constant
cycle of life producing more life that Mother Nature intended.
So, we as the Creator of Worlds, have no choice but to simply do our thing, observe these
lush and thriving kingdoms under our care, as their inhabitants live out their lives,
as we do everything in our power to give them everything they need to succeed, and continue
building new intriguing worlds to marvel at.
Which brings me, AC Family, to this.
Although we say goodbye to one colony in the Antiverse, there's something on the opposite
side of the Ant Room that has been erected, something I know for a fact, you guys will
be ultimately thrilled about!
AC Family behold, the framework to what will be the future home to one of the greatest
species of social insects I know, and our next kingdom construct set to be our greatest
of all time!
AC Family, did you enjoy today's episode?
It's sad that we lost the Terminators to these nefarious pharaoh ants, but they're gone now
and super exciting, I'm thrilled to introduce to you another highly coveted and requested
colony joining the Antiverse next week for our 3 Million Subs episode!
Yay!
Can you believe there are 3 Million of us now?
Huge occasion so trust me!
You guys will absolutely love these newcomers in next week's episode, as well as my epic
plans for their new elaborate setup!
So guys, smash that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON for notifications now so you don't miss
out on the coolest ant species I know that will be joining the Antiverse!
And don't forget to hit the LIKE button every single time, including now!
It would really help a lot!
Speaking of ants, it's officially nuptial flight season in the Northern Hemisphere,
and a lot of you are catching queen ants now, and in case you didn't know, we've got all
the top of the line ant keeping gear for you ant keepers at all levels from beginner to
advanced, as well as a tonne of new and exciting products for the ant keeping community not
available anywhere else, so head on over to AntsCanada.com, and browse through our shop.
We ship worldwide, and offer full email support if you need us.
We also have ant colonies with a queen available in most regions.
We also have ant colonies with a queen available in most regions so go check us out and pick
up your ant farm kit and ant gear today!
If you're new to the channel, and want to catch up on all your AntsCanada Lore, feel
free to binge watch this complete story line playlist here, which traces the origins of
all the ant colonies of the ant room, so you can follow their stories and better appreciate
how these ant kingdoms came to be, and why we love them so much!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you'd like to see a hidden
spoiler of the new kingdom we are building in next week's episode!
Trust me, you guys will love it!
Or at least I hope you will.
Hehe!
And now it's time for the AC Question of the Week!
Last week we asked:
What was mentioned in this video that both Dracula Ants and Trap-Jaw
ants can't do?
There were several correct answers, but congratulations to Andrew Youtube Red who correctly answered:
They can’t climb smooth surfaces like glass very well.
Congratulations, Andrew, you just won a free e-book handbook from our shop!
In this week's AC Question of the Week, we ask:
Why are pharaoh ants considered one of the worst ant invaders in the world?
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, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help
us keep making more.
It's ant love forever!