Oh no! Flies. I managed to spot a fly taking off from the
turkey head, but before I could turn on my camera to film it, it had flown straight for
the window through. It had likely entered the Ant Room windows
which I couldn't keep closed, because of the stench from the turkey meat, which would fill
my entire home and probably at this point, the entire floor of my building! Anxiety set in to know that this fly, which
seemed to have evaded the fire ants, could have already laid its eggs onto the turkey. But AC Family, here's where I need your help! Should I go ahead and remove the turkey head
from the Selva de Fuego and throw it out along with the poor workers that may happen to be
working within the turkey head? Or should I leave it in the Selva de Fuego
and just follow whatever happens next? Or should I try something else! As always, your help determine the fate and
events of the Antiverse. Tune in next week to see what happens next! Last week, giving my massive fire ant colony
a turkey head for Canadian Thanksgiving didn't exactly turn out how I'd planned. Our beloved fire ants, scientifically known
as Solenopsis geminata, whom we on this channel call the Fire Nation have been working around
the clock at attempting to break down this huge chunk of turkey meat over the past several
days. But their epic Amazon river paludarium kingdom,
the Selva de Fuego, is beginning to smell too. In fact, the entire Ant Room, i.e. the Antiverse,
and my whole place has begun to fill up with a stench I've never before had to deal with. I fear that within the coming days, my condo
will be unlivable due to this malodorous turkey head. While strong mandibles of the fire ants were
able to cut through this tough skin as well as the warty caruncles, it seemed that the
Fire Nation still found it challenging to finish the turkey meat in due time, and the
rotting flesh had become an open invitation to trespassers and opportunists – a thief
who took part in the feast of the ants, whom I also suspect had laid its eggs onto the
carcass. A fly! And where there are fly eggs, there inevitably
will be the grossest creatures on the planet in my opinion - maggots. And I, your Creator of Worlds and master of
the Antiverse have a severe problem with this! As you may or may not know, I have scoleciphobia,
a fear of worms and worm-like creatures. The possibility of a swarm of maggots seething
through this rotting flesh creeps me the heck out! Yup! Snakes, mealworms, super worms, millipedes:
none of those gross me out, but if it squirms and lacks a defined head and legs, I'm repulsed! On the other hand, the Fire Nation has developed
this reputation of being the most hungry, savage, and ravenous ant colony in the Antiverse. Surely, the Fire Nation might be able to devour
any maggots that appear on site, right? Well, to solve this big predicament, I resorted
to seeking the advice of a body, whose wisdom has proven to truly help me and my ant colonies
at times of need – you, the AC Council. Last week, I asked for your input as to how
to deal with this fly intruder and prospect of an oncoming maggot swarm. It was a choice to either throw this turkey
head out and lose a few fire ants, or leave it in, and put our trust in the Fire Nation's
ability to defend their rotting bounty from maggots and other interlopers, finishing off
what they'd started. And you, AC Council, had spoken. Tallying the votes. More than half of you voted to keep the turkey
head in and continue the filming the outcome. And so, I obliged, AC Family. I kept the turkey head in the Selva Fuego
and continued to film the events that ensued. And what I filmed over the days following
was an utter nightmare come true! The turkey head continued to dry out. Many of the workers continued on ripping pieces
of rotten meat from the carcass, seemingly unaware of possible creatures birthing up
ahead below their feet. In fact, the fire ants, of varying sizes,
seemed to still enjoy their Thanksgiving gift, which looked a lot more like jerky now. By this time, they'd successfully bored out
holes large enough to accommodate their bodies, and it looked as though they had tunneled
into the meaty interior to navigate the insides of the turkey head freely. I wondered if the hard-working fire ants had
established a labyrinth of tunnels under there. The rancid juice from the rotting turkey head
dripped from the lower ends of the meat, as well as from the beak. But check this out, AC Family! The ants know that this turkey juice produces
a putrid smell that invites other insects to their bounty, so to help dampen out this
open smelly invite, the Fire Nation had ingeniously decided to carry soil and other dry debris
from below, and place it onto the smelly liquid, to soak it up kinda like a natural mop. Somehow, they understand that drying off the
biological juices helps kill off the microorganisms that thrive off these nutrient-packed moisture
blobs, that go on to produce the foul odors. They also seem to know that having this festering,
microbial-thriving fluid sitting around is actually a bio hazard for them. Just look at what this liquid did to the plants
below the turkey. The fire ants not only need to keep potential
thieves away, they also need to keep the area as clean as they possibly can. Smart right? I thought so! But as I was gazing at the dripping biological
juice of the meat, something suddenly caught my attention that put a terrible feeling in
the pit of my stomach. OMG! Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Is that movement I see in the rotting flesh? Oh dear! That doesn't look like fire ants in there. My heart jumped into my throat, as I began
to realize that my worst fears had come true. The maggot swarm had been born. I began to panic and could hear my heart beating
loudly in my ears. Ugh, I literally screamed and was writhing
in disgust while filming this. Some of you last week recommended I cut the
turkey open so they could finish the turkey much easier, but now that I knew there were
maggots loose in the meat I, for sure, was not going to touch that turkey head with a
ten foot tweezer! Thinking about what could be living underneath,
made me want to vomit, and I broke out in a sweat. But I had to film this process, for science
and for you, AC Family! I knew this was a process of nature that was
important and still quite educational. So, let's recap the details, AC Family, shall
we? Watching the footage I shot last week, I believe
that we had a house fly guest, scientifically known as Musca domestica. This fly species is pretty common in residential
areas around the world. House flies can quickly transform from an
egg, to maggot, to pupa, to adult. The eggs are laid by a female fly in decaying
meat or vegetables with enough moisture. Our Suspect No. 2 is a regular in the Ant
Room. I call them, the vultures of the Antiverse! They are always buzzing around seeking out
decaying insects and meats to feed on and lay their eggs in. While it did not succeed in the past, because
the Fire Nation was always quick to process any food I'd given them, I think due to the
sheer size of the turkey head, these guys had a better chance. AC Family, presenting to you a gnat. Similar to the housefly, gnats also love rotting,
wet spaces. They love to lay their eggs on rotten fruits
or meats. In as little as one week, these gnats can
fully develop from eggs to adults. Both these suspects are flies, and though
flies come in various colors and sizes, the life cycle of all flies is generally the same. The adult finds a suitable environment to
lay its eggs in, often a wet environment that would provide moisture to the developing egg. Then, in a matter of hours to days, from this
egg hatches a larva, also known as a maggot, starting off as a tiny maggot but quite rapidly
growing bigger and bigger as it eats, undergoing different larval stages until it becomes a
pupa. From here, the fly develops while being cocooned
by a hard, often brown shell. Days after, from this pupa will hatch an adult
fly. By this time, the turkey head has been in
the Selva de Fuego for around five days now. I expect these small maggots we saw to become
fully adult flies in just a few more days. Ugh so gross! I wasn't sure if I was ready to face a seething
swarm of maggots! But as I continued to coach myself for what
was up ahead, something strange happened. The freaky movement under the meat had disappeared. It seemed the maggots had gone elsewhere. I inspected the neck, beak, and even the skull
of the turkey, but saw no maggots. I checked the wattle, the throat, the hollow
eyes. Nada! It seems the maggots were elusive little ones
and had migrated to a part of the carcass away from view. I decided to go to bed and let the carcass
be, but I had an uneasy feeling I couldn't ignore, that things were about to get really
bad, and AC Family, by morning I was about to find out just how bad. AHHHHH! Maggots!! And lots of them! Through wetter parts of the rotting meat,
the maggots had effectively traveled up the throat and to the ears of the turkey. And just a warning: This next sight made me
scream in disgust! This is not for the faint at heart! AC Family, look! A group of maggots were congregating and pulsating
within the cavity of this turkey ear. Oh my gosh so gross! Ughhhhhh... Why was it pulsating like that? Was it breathing? What I found most staggering about all of
this was how quickly the maggots had grown, although thinking about it further, the maggots
could have been around and growing within this turkey head, since day 1 without me even
knowing. Whatever the case, the swarm of maggots had
alarmed the Fire Nation by now! In true Fire Nation fashion, the ants were
fierce and ruthless, and were unwilling to share their meal with these slimy larval intruders. Look at these ants trying to attack these
young maggots. Go Fire Nation go! Get 'em! Annihilate them all! Ugh I don't think I've ever rooted for the
Fire Nation more than I was now! Surprisingly, the maggots reacted to their
aggressors, retreating into the turkey flesh where possible. Every now and then, I caught maggots attempting
to escape the ear, but were met with powerful bites from the worker ants. One thing, I did find rather interesting was
the size difference within the maggot swarm. As I looked closely into their ear sanctuary,
I could actually see maggots that were much smaller in size. Look, here is one trying to wriggle its way
into the swarm of maggots. AC Family, it made me believe that multiple
flies had decided to lay their eggs here. And aside from the size difference, the various
larvae also looked quite different to me. If I were to guess, I felt that both a house
fly and a gnat had successfully laid their eggs into the turkey head carcass we gave
to the Fire Nation. Perhaps multiple flies had done so over the
past few days. Despite all the maggots present, the diligent
workers of the Fire Nation continued to work on their collective goal of finishing the
turkey head meat. The good news about all this, was that by
this time, the muscle, fat, and other soft parts of the head had all been consumed. All that remained were the beak, and dried
up skin and caruncles which were probably too tough for the fire ants by now. The colony had been working on this turkey
head for around a week, and it was a bit of a consolation to know that the turkey head
was almost close to completely done by the fire ants, and once the ants stopped coming
to this turkey head, I could then have someone help me dispose of it. It was at least assuring to know, that it
wouldn't be much longer now that I would have to deal with the smell and this maggot-infested
meat. Over the next few days, I watched as the turkey
head became more and more unrecognizable from its original state. Its once pinkish flesh, was now a deep dark
hue, something resembling cured meat. From afar it still looked like a complete
turkey head still, but based on what I could see of the interior, I was pretty sure the
Fire Nation had completely hollowed out the inside. Again, it seemed now the maggot action had
died down. But I knew they were still around. You see, once maggots reach full size, they
then venture out to seek drier environments to pupate. My guess was, they wriggled out of the ears
and other holes, and allowed themselves to fall down into the soils of the Selva de Fuego,
where they could safely pupate. In fact, at the wattle of the rotting turkey,
I did see a few new maggots wriggling around, but I also spotted a single pupa, and that
is when something dawned on me. It seems at some point, the Fire Nation stopped
trying to attack the maggots. Perhaps, the maggots had a protective slime
or had created effective tunnels in the meat that were inaccessible to the fire ants. But this pupa was evidence that at least some
of the maggots were making it to pupation, and were pretty much guaranteed to making
it to adulthood in the coming days. As I watched the new young maggots which were
likely just recently born, slithering around and eating what they could salvage from the
turkey meat, I realized that, though gross, these were in fact, babies, too. A mother fly had sought out a suitable place
that she felt her babies would have the best chance of survival, found this turkey, and
risked her life to lay her eggs amidst a hungry colony of fire ants. You gotta admit, that's a pretty epic story
on its own! For most of us humans, the natural response
to seeing flies and their maggots is repulsion. I mean, most people I know also feel the same
about spiders and even ants! It made me wonder about where our human repulsion
to insects and creepy crawlies come from. I actually know where my fear of worms originated,
and it was from watching one of my puppies as a kid, puking tapeworms, and my mom shouting
at me the whole time to keep away from the mess, while she cleaned up. I never forgot this moment in my childhood. But I highly believe our repulsion to creepy
crawlies originate when we are just kids, when our parents teach us that these creatures
are gross and should not be touched. I would go so far as to say that as kids we
have a natural curiosity and intrigue for insects and little creatures, but somewhere
a long the way we learn early on from our parents, friends, and/or society that these
little creatures are gross and repulsive. Luckily, my mom always encouraged me to venture
out into the yard and play with bugs, and thanks to her, it lead me to create this channel,
but that one experience with my puppy and tapeworms was enough to hard wire into my
brain that worms and anything worm-like are disgusting, even though I as a biology guy
know that worms and maggots are harmless, and furthermore that they are essential components
of an ecosystem. Maggots help in the decomposition of plants
and animals. They continued the work that the fire ants
could no longer do once the carcass reached a certain point of decomposition. They also happen to leave behind important
bacteria and enzymes that could further breakdown larger decaying organisms. As adult flies, they serve as an important
food source to a whole slew of animals that prey on them. Flies and their maggots are an integral part
of the food web, and without them, we'd surely not be able to survive. I decided I would let the turkey head continue
to remain in the Selva de Fuego for a couple more days, and after that, I would remove
it and dispose of it outside. Thankfully, the drier the turkey head got,
the less it smelled, and I knew both ants and maggots were helping at hurrying the breakdown
process, so that was a good thing. AC Family, today I learned that in life and
in the natural world, though something might seem repulsive and undesirable, if you look
under the surface deep enough, you might find something great to give thanks for. But suddenly, I came across something that
I wasn't particularly thankful for... Later that day, I spotted this. Oh no! The Dark Knights! OMG AC Family, it's just terrible! You won't believe what happened to another
one of the OG colonies of this channel! I'll be getting into the whole thing in next
week's episode, so hit that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON for notifications now, so you
don't miss out on what happened to the Dark Knights! But don't worry, it's not as bad as you think. Don't forget to also hit the LIKE button every
single time, including now! It would really help a lot! And guys, I have some great news! It is with extreme pride and honour that I
announce that this week, that we the AC Family were nominated for a Streamy Award in the
Science and Education category. This is absolutely massive and a complete
dream come true! In case you don't know the Streamys are like
the Oscars for Youtubers, so you should all be very proud of yourselves. I definitely did this together. Ant love is truly forever. I look forward to attending the Streamys in
LA in December, as a representative of our Antiverse, as well as all of you, the biggest
most powerful colony of the Youtube ecosystem - the AC Family! Thank you guys so much and stay tuned for
more updates on that. 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 extended play footage of the maggots in the turkey. I recommend not eating while watching that
hidden video! And now it's time for the AC Question of the
Week! Last week we asked: What are the wart-like growths of a turkey
called? Congratulations to Lucio Carro who correctly
answered: Caruncles Congratulations Lucio, you just won a free
e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: Why are flies important 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!
