On this channel, week after week, we witness some pretty remarkable things, as we look
closer into the lives of ants.
But every now and then we get lucky enough to get the opportunity to witness some exceptionally
mind-blowing moments.
What you will see in this video will definitely be one of such moments.
Today we were super lucky to catch the queen of our brand new trap-jaw ant colony laying
an egg.
We also reveal the official name of this colony as voted by you, the AC Family!
You won't want to miss all this amazing ant action ahead so keep watching until the end.
Hold your breath, AC Family, as our trap-jaw ant colony's royal queen gives us her blessing
to watch her giving birth to an ant egg, on this episode of the AntsCanada Ant Channel.
Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel, and hit the bell icon.
Enjoy!
AC Family, on our official Twitter page and Facebook, we asked you guys what colony you
would like to see featured on this week's episode, and by the way if you aren't following
us on Twitter and Facebook, I'm putting links in the description box so you guys can join
us there.
I often do cool polls in case I need to get a hold of the AC Family between videos.
Anyway, by popular demand, the AC family asked for this video to be about our new trap-jaw
ants, whose scientific name is Odontomachus infandus.
For those who haven't been up to date on our latest videos, this trap-jaw ant colony is
a starting colony that came to us a few weeks ago.
We began by trying to offer it various food and discovered that they are actually quite
fussy with food acceptance.
During our test, we found that if the food was too big they wouldn't eat it.
So let's see if they are a bit more willing to try bigger prey now that the colony is
a few workers larger.
I offered this split cockroach.
I find that I also have to knock on the side of the enclosure to get them to come out to
explore, kind of like knocking gently on their door.
Here she comes!
Will she take it?
She picks it up, and no luck.
She takes it away from the nest!
It is too big!
OK then.
Well, how about a leg?
Alright, she accepts the leg.
Great!
And there she goes into the nest.
Bring home the bacon.
The cockroach bacon!
Of course, these ants also love their honey.
I have been feeding them raw honey twice a week, by placing a tiny drop like this.
It isn't long before one of the workers smells the honey just outside their door and calls
for one of her sisters.
They do their best to scoop up the honey with their long mandibles and take it into the
nest.
So, in a previous video you, the AC Family voted for an official name for this colony
and by popular vote the official name of this colony is THE JAWBREAKERS!
I rather find it a clever name.
Good choice, AC Family.
The Jawbreakers they are!
It's quite fitting because these ants love their sweets.
I find ti hilarious watching them eagerly grabbing at their honey.
Most ants don't do this.
Instead they fill up their special stomachs.
The Jawbreakers however prefer to handle their goods, and why not?
Those are some pretty impressive chompers!
It's good news that these ants are eating well.
So, let's peek into the nest down below the surface.
Now because this is a dirt nest, visibility is a bit challenging but lucky for us the
ants have dug up right against the floor so we can see them.
I do see that the brood pile has grown since we last checked, and there are more cocoons.
I also note that the nest has extended past the single claustral chamber that the entire
colony once lived in.
It looks like there are two rooms now.
This is truly the coolest part about ant keeping.
Watching as your colony grows in size and being there to care for them every step of
the way.
And check out this worker here.
You might notice she her head is yellowish in colour.
This, AC Family, is a newly eclosed worker ant, meaning a worker that has just emerged
from its pupae.
It is yellow only for now while the ant's exoskeleton is soft and hardening.
In a few days, its yellow head will be a darker red just like her sisters.
And there is the queen.
She is much larger than the workers.
And what you're about to witness is one of the coolest moments of ant keeping.
Now the amazing thing about ants is that a queen ant only mates once in her entire life,
during the nuptial flight when her generation of virgin queens and males flew into the air
and mated on wing.
After this mating session in which the queen alate mates with many males, she drops to
the ground and starts her own colony.
The magic is that she keeps all the sperm acquired during this nuptial flight viable
in a special organ in her body called a spermatheca.
This organ allows her to release the sperm slowly in order to lay eggs for years and
years for the rest of her life.
Isn't that amazing?
Look at the tip of her gaster.
It should be pointed, but you can kind of see a little white bump.
That, AC Family is an ant egg ready to be born.
AC Family, when I saw this I had to check twice because I could not believe our timing!
I was thrilled that we would all be able to witness this special moment.
I actually had no idea how long this process of egg laying would take for this species.
So, let's sit back and watch the queen of our Jawbreakers, giving birth to an egg.
And she flexes at her petiole and plucks the egg from the tip of her gaster.
Wow!
Wasn't that just amazing?!
I cannot believe we managed to film that moment!
It's just amazing to think that for the rest of her life, this queen will be laying thousands
and thousands of eggs.
What a miracle!
I almost feel like this queen needs her own name.
What do you guys say AC Family?
The colony's name is the Jawbreakers, but there's something about this queen that makes
me feel she deserves her own name.
Leave your suggestions for names in the comments section.
She carries the egg around for a few moments, and I heard a few little ticking sounds, as
if the jawbreaker workers were snapping their jaws.
Could they be fighting over the egg?
A few minutes later, I finally saw that one of the workers, was holding the egg, and wait
a sec... it was our youngest worker!
The worker that had just eclosed!
This makes sense because usually the youngest worker ants in a colony are the ones that
stay home and help with home duties which include helping the queen with baby sitting.
The oldest ants are the ones that typically leave the nest.
And there you have it AC Family, the miracle of ant birth.
I truly hope the Jawbreakers continue to grow!
I will be sure to keep you guys updated so make sure you guys SUBSCRIBE to the channel
so we can stay connected!
Please also LIKE the video and leave me a comment!
I read through as many of the comments as I can and appreciate your feedback, AC Family.
I wish this the Jawbreakers, our trap-jaw ants here the best of luck!
This is your ant nerd AntsCanada signing out!
And always remember:
It's Ant love forever!
AC Family, wasn't that pretty neat?
AC Inner Colony here's your hidden video of the Jaw Breakers and the queen giving birth
without all the narration.
Just relaxing music.
And guys, if you haven't watched these hidden ant videos yet, you must check them out.
They are super relaxing!
And now for the AC Question of the Week!
Last week we asked,
What is the name of the stuff found in ant blood that keeps ants
from freezing in the winter?
Congratulations to Entomoloscope who correctly answered:
Glycerol.
Congratulations Entomoloscope, you just won a FREE AC Handbook from our shop!
In this week's AC Question of the week we ask:
What is the name of an ant's waist segment?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could win a free ant t-shirt from
our shop!
Please SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE, and join us every week for more ant videos
like this, which we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST.
It's ant love forever!