Which of these five tasty flavours will fire ants choose?
Well, today we’re going to find out in the ultimate ant taste test challenge.
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In all my years of ant keeping, I’ve never tried to find out if my pet ants prefer certain
tastes over others.
I just simply threw in their food and they ate it.
But wouldn’t a knowledge of what flavours ants prefer be great to know?
Other than giving my pet ants their favourite tasting food every day, knowing what flavours
they like or dislike, may come in handy when for instance, having a picnic outside at a
park where fire ants might happen to be living.
So that’s why this week, I decided to conduct an experiment using my fire ant colony, the
Phoenix Empire, as subjects for an ultimate taste test, using some common flavours.
I’ll tell you now, I was pretty surprised at the results, and you might be, too, so
keep on watching until the end!
Now let’s go over the taste test experiment.
This taste test was done using these sweet jelly cups for three reasons: First, all the
jelly cups had the same consistency, so the ants couldn’t choose based on the texture
of the food, seeing as ants have a general preference for soft moist food over anything
else.
Second, all the jelly cups were the same amounts, so I could more easily see how much of the
food was eaten.
And third, all the flavours were under the sweet category, because if I were to offer
different categories of flavours, like salty, bitter, sour, etc, I’m pretty sure sweet
and whatever a cockroach tastes like would end up winning!
Haha!
Here are the five flavours we would be taste testing today on our fire ants:
First, white sugar.
Ahhh the typical mother of sweetness.
My fire ants used to drinking white sugar dissolved in water in their sugar test tubes,
which by the way, I let dry out a couple days ago for this experiment.
If white sugar flavour ends up winning, I’m sure it’s because they’re already used
to this flavour.
Second, brown sugar.
Do you think the ants would choose the healthier sugar flavour?
Does the brown sugar being healthier rule even apply to ants?
I’m not sure.
The Phoenix Empire has had brown sugar water in the past, so this taste is also not new
to them.
Third, honey!
A very common choice of sugar source for ant keepers.
I have found that some species of ants don’t particularly like honey only because they
can’t digest it well, but honey flavoured jelly might be more palatable.
Let’s see.
Fourth, banana.
What fruit-loving animal doesn’t like banana, a high sugar fruit with a distinct taste?
Random fact: bananas are berries.
Which brings us to our last flavour, strawberry.
A lower sugar fruit, that random fact, again, is actually not a berry.
Don’t ask me!
I’m just as upset that someone clearly lied to us as kids!
So AC Family, behold.
The Phoenix Empire’s new sugar chamber.
This venue would be a suitable place to have the experiment as we can better control the
environment.
It’s just a simple take-out container, with the lid cut up so we could see inside, lined
with baby powder along the bottom so the fire ants can’t escape.
Not sure if this will be a permanent installment to their setup, but it will do for this experiment!
Inside we have our five flavours, each equidistant from the entrance point, so that the fire
ants don’t simply choose whichever cup is closest.
I’ll be connecting it to this port here in their ac Test Tube portal where their empty
sugar test tube is currently connected, because the ants already know this place as the source
of their sweet food, which will make this experiment easier.
So how will we know which flavour the ants choose?
Well, we will give the ants 12 hrs to sample all flavours and whichever flavour has the
most jelly eaten will be the winner.
If we give the ants more time, I’m afraid they’ll just eat everything and we won’t
be able to tell which they liked the most.
Sounds like a plan, guys?
What’s your hypothesis?
Which flavour do you think the ants will like the most?
Let us know in the comments section and at the end go back to your comment and see if
you were right!
No cheating!
Guys, let the taste test begin!
Connecting the tube, and done.
AC Family, let’s watch.
Instantly, the ants travel through the tube and enter the sugar chamber.
At first, they took the time to explore the new uncharted territories, but soon an ant
discovered the banana and even had a taste of the white sugar.
Meanwhile, some other ants discovered the brown sugar, and strawberry.
Finally, the honey too was discovered.
The ants began filling the area with pheromones so that the oblivious ants below could come
up and check out the sweet goods just above them.
I slipped a white paper under the container so we could better watch the ants gather to
feed from the jelly cups and observe their trails.
Check ‘em out!
What’s great about this method of taste testing is that ants actually work on a democratic
system, where the collective ant mind is driven by a pheromonal voting.
The ants use chemicals to recruit and/or convince surrounding ants to do something or come somewhere,
and in this case, it’s to come try the jelly!
Over time, we should see the ants’ collective preference manifest as the ants crowdsource
which one tastes the best to them!
Sorry, it seems the brown sugar is hard to see, but don’t worry.
You’ll see the results shortly.
Also while shooting, I noticed that some of the fire ants were squeezing through tiny
spaces between the lid and the container so I had to place baby powder on the wall of
the enclosure to solve that.
Well so far, it seems banana is not a favourite, and neither is honey.
Interesting.
The ants seem to be preferring the white sugar, strawberry, and brown sugar, and in second
place the honey, and banana the least favourite.
By now the whole Phoenix Empire had been informed of the new lands of sweet goodies and were
pouring in in droves!
Wouldn’t you if you were an ant that had heard about the discovery a new sugarland?
Moments later, I noticed that the ants were starting to show a greater preference for
white sugar.
I mean, it’s what they’re used to right?
I wonder if they will continue eating this or move collectively from flavour to flavour.
There were times when I felt like the ants started to show a greater liking for the strawberry,
but the preference wasn’t so obvious yet.
It was definitely a toss up between the white sugar and strawberry.
And then, the strangest thing happened.
Switching the camera position so you guys can see.
The ants began to show a preference for the brown sugar!
Am I just seeing things or do you guys see slightly more ants at the brown sugar?
Over the next while, the ants were jumping between white sugar, strawberry, and brown
sugar, and not feeling the honey nor banana so much.
I decided to come check up on the ants and jelly cups in the morning, to see if there
would be more clear evidence of a preference.
The next morning, I saw this!
So, looking at each one, I do see that the flavour that currently has the most ants eating
right now is strawberry, but in terms of volume of jelly that was eaten, it was clearly brown
sugar.
Before going to bed, I did see that most of the ants were chowing down on the brown sugar
more than the others, so what I’m guessing is the ants had their fill of the brown sugar,
and then sorta got tired of the taste, and moved on to their second favourite: strawberry.
Despite being popular first, white sugar appeared to be in third place, fourth honey, and last
place banana.
Banana’s surface was still smooth which meant it was hardly touched!
And so, AC Family, it seems brown sugar is our winner and the top most favoured flavour
of the five!
Well, were the results what you thought?
Guess I’m not going to be bringing brown sugar-coated strawberries to my next picnic,
but instead will take bananas dipped in honey!
Haha!
To be absolutely sure, though, this experiment would need to be run several times, perhaps
arranging the jelly cups in different positions, to see if the results come out the same each
time.
I also figured some margins of error could have been the colour of the jelly.
Perhaps the ants could have had a preference for or an aversion to certain colours.
Maybe the ants don’t like the colour yellow, and well the brown sugar seems to be the same
colour as the roaches they love.
Next time I should try to create jelly cups of different flavours but all the same colour.
I also realized placement of my lighting could have possibly affected the results, too.
What I also found interesting was that my ants got sorta fed up with one flavour and
moved on to another, so perhaps every time I try to duplicate this experiment they may
choose differently.
Now I know that variety will keep them happier than just feeding them the same old thing
every day!
Whatever the case, this was such a fun experiment to try out with you guys!
What other cool and safe experiments should we try on our Phoenix Empire?
I sometimes like doing these kinds of videos, too for science!
So it’s clear that ants really love their sugars, which worker ants absolutely need
to power all their daily energy-demanding activities.
Whether they get it from natural sugar sources, fruits, or sweet foods left behind by humans,
ants always did and forever will have the ultimate sweet tooth.
Thank you for watching and supporting the ants!
It’s ant love forever!
AC Family, did you enjoy today’s episode?
Were the results what you expected?
I’m now craving something sweet!
So much more is ahead for the Phoenix Empire and other creatures of the ant room, so if
you haven’t yet, do SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you
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Thank you!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you would like to watch extended
play footage of the Phoenix Empire feasting on their sweet jelly!
And guys, did you know that it’s anting season in the Northern Hemisphere, and you
don’t even need to leave your home to start an ant colony?!
You can catch pregnant queen ants from the safety of your own backyard, balcony, or open
window starting this month!
Be sure to visit AntsCanada.com for all your ant keeping and collecting gear shipped to
you in a special package from our ant-loving facility in the USA, so you can get the most
out of your ant keeping experience.
We ship worldwide and also offer full email support if you need our help!
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And now it’s time for the AC Question of the Week.
Last week, we asked:
Why was the temple called Shelfordella?
Congratulations to Mandy De La Rosa who answered:
It was called Shelfordella because their scientific name is Shelfordella lateralis.
Congratulations Mandy, you just won a free Ultimate Ant Keeping handbook from our shop!
In this week’s AC Question of the Week we ask:
Which of the flavours would you choose if you were an ant?
Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free ebook handbook
from our shop!
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