Welcome, AC Family to another ant video.
Let's have a look here.
Every time we see a container on this channel, like this, wrapped up nicely in coloured paper,
it usually means one thing.
Yes!
We have a new ant colony!
AC Family, not only are we welcoming yet another new ant colony to this channel, we are welcoming
what has to be one of my ultimate dream species!
Behold!
Carebara diversa, the world famous Asian Marauder ants.
These ants are known for their impressive degree of polymorphism, with their tiny minors
to absolutely massive super majors!
And you won't believe what the queen looks like!
This episode will truly amaze you as to how impressive the various castes of an ant colony
can be, so keep on watching until the end!
AC Family, let's sound the royal trumpets and welcome our brand new ants to this channel,
as they caravan into their new home to live under our loving care, on this episode of
the AntsCanada Ant Channel.
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel, and hit the bell icon.
Welcome to the AC Family!
Enjoy!
When I was contacted by one of our GAN Farmers on AntsCanada.com selling native ants in my
area, I was completely surprised to learn that he was offering me a semi-developed colony
of Carebara divera, Marauder ants, and as mentioned, this was my dream species!
So here within this wrapped up container lies a colony of Marauder ants with 1 queen.
And here to right, is what I intend to be their new home, a small condiment container
filled with soil.
Let's have a look at the colony, shall we?
Peering in from the top.
Wow!
Take a look at those huge super majors.
They are absolutely massive tanks!
It's hard to believe the polymorphism in their worker caste.
This species is notoriously difficult to keep in captivity and many experienced ant keepers
have had problems keeping these colonies alive.
In the past, I had 4 failed attempts at getting a solo captured queen of this species to found
a colony, but this semi-mature colony was large, with many workers which meant success
of the colony was greater.
I definitely have high hopes for this colony.
Another thing that makes this species a challenge is that they chew through almost anything.
They can chew through plaster, concrete, and Ytong, so nests cannot be made from these
materials.
They also are escape artists, which is why my barrier is baby powder applied dry in a
container that doesn't have squared edges for them to grip on.
Though this species is known to be very polygynous, meaning a single colony can have many queens,
this particular colony was raised from just a single caught queen ant.
But I couldn't find the queen here no matter how hard I looked so it only meant the workers
were concealing her well.
She's huge but always has a cohort of workers around her.
We will surely see her during the move so I wasn't worried.
OK, so it's time to move them in!
What I intend to do is attach this tube connected to their current container, and attach it
to this tube connecting to their new home.
First step is to remove the covering and expose the colony to a bright light.
Most ants are naturally photophobic when they are nesting, so exposing the colony to bright
lights like this makes them feel like their nest had just been opened up, and it instantly
gets the colony uneasy.
The next step was to finally remove the cotton blocking the tube and make the connection
to their new home.
Here we go, AC Family!
Removing the cotton from the tube ever so carefully.
And now connecting them to the new tube.
Alright!
Success!
AC Family, lets' sit back, relax and let's watch our new Marauder Ant colony move into
their new nest.
The ants instantly move into the new tube.
Our first brave worker enters the new dirt nest to explore.
More and more workers move out and it isn't long before message reaches the rest of the
colony that a more suitable home lays just beyond the tube.
Workers start shipping out the brood, which means the move has officially begun.
They waste no time and start digging tunnels in the new soils.
At last, our first super major embarks on a journey to the colony's new territories.
Look at how huge she is, and you may notice that to save energy, workers often hitch rides
on the super majors, treating them like massive mounts!
So majestic, so amazing!
If this is what the super majors look like, I cannot wait to see what the queen looks
like.
More majors are making the trek now!
Still no sign of the queen.
But soon, I noticed a mass of ants at the exit of the container.
Upon closer inspection, our queen accompanied by a mass of worker ants had officially decided
to move into the new territories.
She slowly made her way through the tube followed by super majors to ensure her protection.
Watching this was absolutely mind-blowing!
I felt like this queen was an empress surrounded by her own personal army.
It was a magical sight!
By the time she reached our new container, the ants had well dug some impressive tunnels
and chambers and she disappeared underground before I could even film her.
The most important member of the colony was now safe and secure in the new nest.
By nightfall, the colony was completely moved out but what shocked me was how elaborate
their ant hills and tunnel work were.
They had created an entire underground palace in just a few short hours.
I could see chambers filled with brood.
The queen was somewhere in there, too perhaps well hidden from view, which was ok.
Just knowing she was there constantly laying a tonne of eggs was good enough for me.
These ants love their environment very humid and are surprisingly a bit more cold-loving
than most ant species in my area.
I was also told that they love their insects, so as is AC tradition, I offered them a pre-crushed
cockroach to relish on their first night in this new nest.
Woah!
Look at them swarm that roach!
This is not time lapsed, guys!
Yikes, these ants are aggressive little ones!
Thankfully for me, they don't sting, but I don't want to feel what their bite is like.
So, AC Family, what should we name this colony?
Leave your name suggestions in the comments section and I will choose my top 5 favourites
so we can all vote in an official poll.
I chuckled when name ideas came to mind, like the Polymorphic Power Rangers, or the Biggie
Smalls.
Feel free to get creative, AC Family, and also remember to give a thumbs up to your
favourite entries.
I am super thrilled to have this new colony join our growing ant universe here on this
channel.
I expect this colony will need to move out of here soon, and I will have to connect an
outworld, but for now this should do at housing them while I study their care over the next
couple of weeks.
Stay tuned for updates on their progress, AC Fam.
Thank you for watching another episode of the AntsCanada Ant Channel.
Today, our family of ants, just got bigger.
This is AntsCanada signing out!
It's ant love forever.
What do you guys think of this colony?
Aren't they amazing!
For all of you Inner Colony members I will leave a hidden cookie for you guys here, if
you would just like to watch extended play footage of the ants moving in to their new
home to relaxing music.
And now it's time for the AC Question of the Week.
Last week we asked,
What is the technical term for a cockroach's egg sac?
Congratulations to Digital Plays who correctly answered "Ootheca".
Congratulations Digital Plays you just won a free ant t-shirt from our shop.
For this week's AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What does "polygynous" mean?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could win a free Ebook handbook from
our shop!
Please remember to hit that THUMBS UP button if you enjoyed this video.
Hope you can subscribe to the channel to keep updated on our weekly ant videos uploaded
every Saturday at 8AM EST.
It's ant love forever!