Hi, this is Jordan.
Bringing you another ant video.
In the past, I’ve made guides how to catch queens and raise them up in order to produce
a healthy ant colony, but I've never directly answered the question as to why you would
want to do so.
So, in this video, I'll be introducing you to the fascinating hobby, which is ant keeping.
Often when people think of ants, they think of them as a nuisance and never really pay
any closer attention to them, and appreciate their intricate, industrial nature.
Ants have been around a long time, believed to have evolved from their wasp-like ancestors
over 100 million years ago.
Today, they inhabit almost the entire land mass of the planet and are of great importance
to their surrounding ecosystems.
In construction of their nests, ants cycle and aerate soil, which encourages the healthy
growth of plants, as it allows water, oxygen and nutrient rich soils to more easily reach
their root systems.
And many plants actually rely on ants for the dispersal of their seeds.
Seed-harvesting ants collect and carry seeds back to their nests.
The ants then consume the food bodies of the seeds, known as elaiosomes.
After they’re done, more often than not, the seeds themselves remain completely intact,
and are just left to lye around within their nest.
This aids in the survival rate of the seeds, as they’re kept away from predators, like
birds and other seed eating insects, as well as protecting them from harsh conditions,
like intense summer heat and bushfires.
Also, being exposed to the nutrient rich conditions of the ant nest, the seeds have an improved
chance of germinating and the growing seedlings will have an enhanced development too.
Ants are highly social insects, having evolved to cooperate with other members of their colony
in order to achieve their goals.
They’re able to communicate through the excretion of a variety of different pheromones,
each of which, has its own distinctive purpose.
For example, when a single ant is out foraging for food and finds something worthwhile, it
returns to its colony, laying down a particular pheromone trail as it goes, this lets other
ants know that there’s food down this path.
So as soon as another ant comes across this pheromone trail, it investigates, using its
scent detecting antennae to guide itself along the way.
Once it reaches the food source and it too finds it appealing, it then returns to the
nest as the first ant did, and strengthens that original pheromone trail.
So in a matter of minutes, hundreds, even thousands of ants can discover the food source.
In this case, there are three different food sources available for the ants to choses from.
So which will they go for?
Well, through their method of pheromone communication, the colony is actually able to vote upon which
food is most important for the colony’s needs.
Majority rules, and whichever pheromone trail is strongest, wins out.
In the end, it’s quite clear which is their preferred food.
Ants use their complex process of pheromone communication for more than just finding and
selecting food, however.
Like when, choosing where to dig out a new nesting chamber, or finding the best spot
to store their brood, or to alert others to dangers.
They even use it to distinguish certain members of their colony from one another.
The queen for example, gives off a pheromone, which communicates something like, “I am
your queen, look after me.”
They also use it in order to tell themselves apart from foreign ants.
This is why when ants of different colonies come together, even those of the same species,
don’t get along very well and often resort to fighting.
So ants, through chemical messages, are able to very efficiently function, not individually,
but as a single, superorganism.
What I find so interesting about ants, is that they’re an estimated 20,000 different
species, many of which, possess unique characteristics and are able to perform remarkable actions,
actions they've evolved to achieve and have become instinctual.
These Jack jumper ants, for example, actively position stones and plant debris of certain
colours around the entrance of their nest, with goal of insulating it.
In times of hot weather, they’ll place down lightly coloured materials in order to reflect
heat away from their nest and provide them with some cooling.
And in times of cold weather they’ll place down darkly coloured materials, so as to absorb
heat and provide the nest with some increased warmth.
And these Green Tree Ants, are an arboreal species.
Forming their nests by pulling and stretching leaves together and then using silk, produced
by the colonies larvae, to stitch those leaves together.
Forming a dome-like structure.
These ants are very territorial of their constructions and even have the ability to spray formic
acid if felt threatened.
These Funnel Ants get their name from the way in which they build the entrances of their
nests.
They form them into steep, concave, bowl-like shapes.
This turns the ant hill into a deadly pitfall trap.
If a lethargic insect, like say, a beetle falls in, there’s no escape and the waiting
ants bellow, can move in for the kill.
When hunting for food, many ants use numbers to their advantage, relentlessly latching
onto and attacking their prey.
Green tree ants will often work together by each grabbing a limb from their prey, in this
case, a rival ant, pulling and slowly stretching their victim to death.
Whereas, primitive ants, like bull ants, are specialised to be effective solitary hunters.
They have excellent vision, powerful mandibles and can deliver venomous stings, which can
quickly subdue their prey.
These Trap-jaw ants also hunt alone, stalking even the most agile of prey.
Their mandibles can shut close at lightning speeds, stunning and crushing their victims,
and can then follow up with a deadly sting too, if need be.
And these Dracula ants, are rarely seen above ground, living a mostly, subterranean lifestyle.
Adapted to foraging below leaf matter and even the grounds surface in order to hunt
for their food.
Ants come in all manner of sizes, shapes and colours.
From tiny ants, only a few mm in length,
to 2cm long monsters.
To the slender, long legged shape of Leptomyrmex, with its aptly nick name of Spider Ant.
And from the beautifully, brightly coloured Camponotus and Calomyrmex, to the incredible,
iridescent, diamond like sheen of Rhytidoponera.
Many species of ants are polymorphic too, meaning they have different castes across
the population of their individual colony.
Soldiers are larger than regular worker ants and often have powerful jaws for
slicing up food and hauling heavy loads back to their nest.
And their increased size and strength helps better defend the colony from predators.
And some species have a replete caste.
These ants are used to store food or water in large quantities within their social stomachs.
This species of Pheidole even have soldier ants which can double up as repletes.
Here you can see the difference between a regular soldier and one acting as a replete.
They’re filled up through the process of trophallaxis, until their gasters become swollen up like balloons.
This allows the colony to preserve what they collect, saving it for later consumption,
when perhaps food and water becomes scarce due to cold weather or drought.
So, if you've made it this far into the video, you'll probably agree, ants really are interesting
animals.
But you still may be thinking, what incentive is there to raise them as pets?
Well, what ant keeping allows you to do, is observe behaviors which would otherwise go
unnoticed.
In a formicarium, the technical term for an ant farm, you have a clear view of what's
going on within the colonies nest.
So, you'll be able to observe exciting events, like the eclosing of new workers.
Here's a soldier ant who has only just emerged from its pupae stage and come to life.
These young ants are uncoordinated and have very pale exoskeletons at first, but as they
mature, they darken into their familiar colour and soon begin working and helping out their
colony.
If a colony call for it, you'll also see the rise of winged reproductive ants, known as
alates.
Here's a few alates who have only just eclosed and are being nurtured by the workers.
Watch as this worker meticulously cleans this alate’s wings, and another feeds one via
trophallaxis.
And of course, you'll be able to observe the most important member of the colony, the queen,
or in this case the multiple queens.
The queens are constantly attended to by their workers.
They feed them, keep them clean, collect their eggs and stand guard, ready to defend them
from any potential threats.
Depending on how your formicarium is setup, you can even watch them dig out tunnels and
construct chambers.
This particular colony is housed within a terrarium, and so, has a substrate in which
the ants can dig into.
The ants are constantly at work maintaining their nest structure and feeding, cleaning
and relocating their brood, all in order to ensure the health and well-being of the colony’s
next generations.
You just wouldn’t be able to see ants perform natural behaviors like these outside of a
formicarium.
Sure, you can lift up rocks and logs and uncover wild ant nests, but all you'll be able to
observe is complete chaos, as all the ants frantically rush around trying to get their
colony to safety.
Ant keeping can be a very inexpensive hobby.
Initially, all you’ll need is a queen,
a single test tube and some cotton balls.
Then, later on, when workers start to arrive, just a plastic container to act as a foraging
area and very a minimal supply of foods, like fruits and insects, in order to sustain them.
Ants can also be quite low maintenance pets too.
Unless you have a huge colony, they can go days, weeks and sometimes even months without
any attention.
Of course, you will need to do your research and learn what’s required of you as their
keeper, carefully considering whether you, personally, can meet these requirements, as
you should do before getting any pet, whether it be a cat or dog or even a goldfish.
An ant colony will continue on for as long as the queen does, and some queens are known
to live up to 30 years of age.
The second longest living of all insects, behind termite queens.
So as long as a colony is well looked after, they can last you a very long time.
In conclusion, ants are truly fascinating animals.
Studying their complex, systematic behaviors and watching their colonies grow over time,
weather that be in a wild or captive environment, can be a really rewarding and insightful experience.
So I hope you’ve enjoyed this video and have developed a new found respect for these
little creatures.
And perhaps, you may even be considering catching a queen and starting your very own ant colony.