My Arm vs. Thousands of Weaver Ants

before we begin today's episode I wanted to let everyone know that banks Canada com is having its big annual holidays promo the 20-20-20 sale that's 20% off all hybrid series and farms and gear packs from now until January 2020 plus a free copy of our newly updated ultimate and keeping handbook right now at ncaa.com click the link in the description to get your ACN farm today and now enjoy today's ant episode speaking of trees and being vigilant making sure everything was in order I noticed the canopy of varta our treetop forest home to our aggressive Weaver ant colony the Emerald Empire was in need of some serious maintenance first the piping of the ring system had unstuck from the glass also the trees had seriously overgrown and they needed to be cut back big-time but there's just one problem the only way in was to open these front glass doors and well it seems the Weaver ants had decided to fuse its main leaf mist to the glass oh boy this whole maintenance operation was going to be interesting my god welcome to the easy enjoy last week we had a fun-filled journey exploring various kingdoms in our AC anti verse we visited PAC mania this Moss adorned home of our Suriname Horned Frog also we prepped the moat surrounding Skull Island home to our ghost aunts and of course our biggest accomplishment last week we crafted the greatest vivarium we've ever created in the AC aunt averse a multi-species bio active domain for the dark nights these exciting journeys of discovery and adventure around the N room certainly don't end there this week holds yet again another exhilarating episode as we continue to dig deep climb up and experience firsthand the marvelous territories of our beloved and colonies are AC family without further ado let's begin this week's exploration standing tall in our collection of ants and other animals here in the AC an Traverse is the canopy of four tesha home to the extravagant emerald Empire this savage colony of lover ants scientifically known as eco Phyllis Medina has shown us their brilliance through the building of their cool leaf basket nests in the trees their collection of protein sources and even through their apparent understanding of sustainability and growth management of the four touching trees on which they live it seems that we have seen practically everything these mighty and hardworking arboreal ants can do but this time I wanted to push the boundaries of what is possible for the Emerald empires housing and it involves sticking my arm and even my face into their highly guarded territories yup it's totally crazy but hey someone's got to do it but don't worry I have a plan so stay tuned for that but before we get started for those of you who are new to the channel let's catch you up to speed in celebration for reaching three million subscribers I decided to try keeping these highly popular ants in the N world Asian Weaver ants native to Southeast Asia these Weaver ants are known for their arboreal life as they build their nests atop trees to create their homes they use silk produced by their larvae effectively gluing tree leaves together the transpiration from the leaves helps naturally humidify the insides of their leaf nests and as the leaves wilt the ants go on to create new leaf nests on the same tree they seem to know when to start new nests which they do well in advance before their current nests wilt and appear to somehow have a feeling for how much they're able to build sustainably so that their host plant doesn't die out there surely one of the most captivating ant colonies I've ever kept three months after the creation of the canopy of our tisha this is what the territory looks like now look the trees had overgrown seems they had been working on plans for this money tree to grow much taller and their plant management initiatives have been working this money tree has grown leaves that extend up to the top mesh but here's the very concerning problem with that if I leave this tree unchecked I know for certain that its force would eventually push through the mesh destroying the terrarium and setting the ants free hey wait a second could this be the Emerald Empire's master plan of escape okay not gonna even go there also there were other tuning and maintenance issues that needed to be dealt with like dislodged piping from the rain system glass cleaning a hanging dead leaf nest which drove my OC mind insane and this stray plastic cup that fell from their feeding plate which I've been dying for months to pick up and dispose given these major and minor concerns it was no doubt in my mind that maintenance was needed but due to the way their enclosure was designed the only way I could get in was by opening these two front glass panels so going into VAR tisha wasn't something I could do every day for Tesh a maintenance definitely was something I intended on doing as infrequently as possible and only when necessarily needed now I see family check out what else I was thinking regarding all this so the Dark Knight's new bioactive planted vivarium home we made last week full of creatures like millipedes bagworms jumping spider etc living with the ant colony made for a very self-sustaining ecosystem ik environment so I figured then if for tisha was also made much more bioactive theoretically it would mean that I'd have to open the terrarium less often and perhaps even improve the quality of the emerald Empire's life by making their home much more natural much more bioactive and so AC family after careful thought it was then that I decided while doing maintenance on Vorta it was also time for us to upgrade the territories a notch and transform for tisha into a multi species bioactive material but before I tell you how I'm going to do that and what creatures I plan on adding to Vorta there was a neighboring and kingdom that was also in need of some maintenance to the west of our tesha sits the mystical double floating islands of a Vista home to our big-headed aunts the bobbleheads you the AC family named them after the big heads of the super major workers take a look at how some of these super majors sport rather comically enlarged heads compared to the ordinary workers the big heads specialize in cutting things up by the way the great job force of the colony of the entire AC an Traverse the home of the bobbleheads stands out because it is our only truly open concept glassless aunt set up as you may see here the potted bonsai plants are rooted down into the soils which extend into these two jars which hold the island up meanwhile these jars are placed in the middle of a glass enclosure whose short walls are covered in baby powder thereby keeping the ants within the premises from afar the home of the bobbleheads look like floating mini Gardens a second island is situated there in the back but we'll visit that Island in a sec at the center of the main island grows a bonsai red banyan tree that we call the Great Tree of Life the tree gets its name because it provides life to the bobbleheads in a few interesting ways first the tree offers the bubblehead shelter as they nest beneath the Sala tree protected among its roots it also houses herds of mealybugs which the ants farm and milk for their sweet honey to excretions finally the tree also eats up there ant poop a great fertilizer in fact this partnership between and and tree has been going so well that the tree has grown profusely and I've had to continually trim the tree back almost once a week in fact I'm about to do it now here we go I started with the outer leaves now watch this guys every time I snip or fiddle around with their sacred Tree of Life the bubble heads get super mad the ants never back down from defending their precious tree this has become a weekly ritual now and oh boy here they come the bubble heads came rushing out of their nest with a sole mission to bite an attack my giant hands from the skies sorry bubble heads but this process is essential for the maintenance of your sacred Tree of Life hang tight okay I'm done sheesh no need to get feisty now trimming the tree was not all that needed to be done first the second islands tree had actually died this once luscious bonsai tree of a different species was now withered and dead I suppose the species of tree did not fare well in the semi shaded conditions of my window so it died however I couldn't just get rid of the island because ants were still nesting within its soils as well I needed to plant a new tree there to replace the dead tree because it does seem trees happen to be the bobblehead secret to success I mean look at how big the colony has grown over time you can truly appreciate the sheer size of the colony every time I water the islands they always come rushing out with their brood and I even get a glimpse of the Royal Queens surfacing at times it was clear that this super colony was now bigger than ever and so a sea family aside from restoring their second island by planting a replacement tree I felt it was finally time to also give the bobbleheads a third floating island back to vortex I knew making the territories more bioactive meant introducing more organisms to Vorta and so here was my plan first I knew I needed to increase the ground cover vegetation so I felt this gorgeous looking hardly philodendron scientifically called philodendron Court Adam one of the hardiest terrarium plants I know was perfect next I wanted to add some awesome leaf litter scooped up from my neighborhood it contained tons of springtails isopods millipedes and beneficial mites that would help break down organic waste to help fertilize the plants in Vortech and hey look what else I found this leaf litter also contained a miniature species a forest roach how cool right speaking of which check out the next creatures I wanted to add dubia roaches scientifically known as BLAP tikka Dubya these roaches as you may or may not know are my feeder roaches meaning I pre crush them and feed them to various animals of my ant room but after thinking about it for a bit I figured these roaches would be an awesome addition to Vorta they can eat decaying leaves that fall to the floor plus possibly the dead leaf nests from the trees if you wish to know more about these underrated and seldom recognized dubia roaches here's a video I made about them and their home plus I have been noticing that every now and then the Emerald Empire has been catching darkling beetles in Vorta the mealworms and super worms that we feed to our various colonies in the ant room are actually larvae of darkling beetles I guess sometimes the super worms survive my pre crushing somehow and managed to escape the deadly mandibles of their and predators seeking out safe locations within the terrariums to proceed with the process of pew patien and development into these shiny black darkling beetles and it seems the Emerald Empire has managed to successfully hunt these survivors and level I've actually seen this happen with the fire nation and dark nights as well given these past experiences I figured why not try to allow insect prey to populate the floors of our tesha reproduce on their own while eating up decaying matter like they would in the wild but also provide the Weaver ants with a supply of prey items now wait I know what you guys are thinking ah ants Canada has changed his ways he's now condoning live feeding let's cancel him hold on I still make it a personal rule to never feed live prey to animals like ants that don't need to eat live prey because it's a slow and painful death for the prey item but in this case the prey animals would have a great chance at escaping and avoiding the ants by burrowing into the leaf litter or into the ground and can otherwise feed breed and live normally as they would in the wild it theoretically would be an equal playing field for prey and predator in my mind anyway so the cruelty factor isn't technically even an issue both for the dubia roaches and darkling beetles living with the Emerald Empire in Vorta the ants could simply wander around the forest floor below their leaf nests to hunt for prey which the ants do in the wild I am sure that the coexistence of four teshon prey and predators would make for a very interesting bio world so first I needed to remove this dead tree on the second island in order to replace it with the new tree for the bobbleheads I removed the entire island from the island Network taking the island off its foundation base you can see that the jar is filled with soil in which the bobbleheads were still nesting I knew that removing the tree from the pot had to be done with the utmost care because surely they were still ants nesting in the soils I was already expecting a ton of bobbleheads to come rushing out once they felt me touching their dead tree so here goes nothing I carefully removed the rock from the island then proceeded to cut the tree off at the roots then attempted to firmly but carefully pull the dead tree from the pump pop the tree broke right off and I've made a bit of a mess but thankfully no ants came boiling out perhaps they didn't care about the tree much since it had already died good now in its place I wanted to plant this baby schefflera plant which also happens to be the same species as one of the trees used in Vortech I feel this would be a better adapted plant to the conditions next to my window seeing as it's done so well in Vorta i planted the schefflera plant in okay so this was the craziest thing I've ever done in my life I know you've heard me say this before but no this is as you may or may not know although these Weaver ants don't have stingers like the Fire Nation they still possess some powerful mandibles and a bite from these ladies combined with a painful formic acid spray is enough to make any trespasser scream Plus what made this operation extra scary was that the Emerald Empire had decided to fuse their main leaf nest to the door of the terrarium could this get any more scarier I worry that as soon as I open this glass door it would rattle the nest setting the Weaver ants into an angry frenzy I needed to prepare myself and make sure I had a plan of attack I needed to know what things I had to grab cut pull out and add before I went into the territories there was no time to think as soon as those glass doors were open I ran through the motions and checklist of tasks in my mind many times as I knew it was imperative to get things right the first time so the tank would be open for the shortest amount of time possible it wasn't a matter of if the Weaver ants would be attacking and escaping it was a matter of how many so I see family here was my plan are you ready so apparently there's a superstition or tradition among mango farmers who have to deal with these ants when harvesting mangoes legend has it that if you whisper to the ants telling them that you're a friend and aren't going to harm them the ants will leave you alone and allow you to pick the fruit without launching an attack if the legends were true this told me then that it was possible to work around these ants as long as I was gentle and not just obtrusively moving in shaking things around like a predator boy did I hope I was right and the legends true I put on my gloves and covered my hands and arms with baby powder there were ants that were already showing signs of wanting to tear my skin up at the earliest opportunity why so aggressive ladies you can even see them here congregating at the door opening ready to greet trespassers with mandibles and acid but I had no choice for Tesh unneeded maintenance and there was no other way I took a deep breath and looked down at the key that would unlock the door Acey family behold the new island I planned on connecting to a Vista isn't it cute it had three bonds I'd money trees also one of the two trees and vortec so it was bound to do well as part of a Vista green moss grew like a carpet along the front of the island I prepared the tray on which the new island would rest by mixing baby powder and rubbing alcohol and painting it along the walls once dried no bobblehead would be able to scale these vertical surfaces I then proceeded to add the two new islands to a Vista and arranged for the driftwood to create the connecting bridge between the three land masses and there we have it a Vista is now officially an archipelago aren't these islands beautiful a sea family looking from afar the islands were a luscious Garden of greenery I couldn't wait to watch the bobbleheads explore their new territories and of course as always in celebration of their new home I provided them with a tasty bite please don't bite I whispered softly summoning up the most calming words that came to mind please subscribe to my channel ok just kidding that's not what I said mmm emerald Empire I come in peace I'm a friend their creator of worlds the ants menaced from the edges watching the tape being removed from the doors I am NOT interested in destroying your home with the tapes removed I unlocked the door and slowly opened one of the panels oh there the glass panel opened and to my surprise the leaf nest detached quite easily without too much fuss thank goodness while some brave ants decided to wander out and escape I decided not to mind them for now and focus on the task at hand moving as slowly and gently as possible it seemed to be working the ants weren't rushing in a mad panic but were strangely standing quite still watching me first things first I went in and wiped the glass and the sticky pads of the piping to improve its suction reattaching their pipe reinstalled one task down next it was time to go into the canopy I went in carefully and snipped away at excess leaves it tripped me out to see the Weaver ant nests so exposed to the outside world for the first time since they were moved in I had to be extra careful not to touch any of the main branches or groupings events all it took was one startled end to hit the panic button which would set off the release of thousands of angry Weaver ants onto my body and ultimately out into the ant room snip snip I place the clippings on the ground as these leaves decay did contribute to the bio activity of the vivarium this would also make sure that we keep any Weaver ants still clinging on to these leaves I could feel some Weaver ants crawling on my neck now but surprisingly not biting me yet they even crawled up my legs the Weaver ants were now all over the immediate area and on me the whole time I felt like I was performing a complex medical surgery with guns pointed at me ready to fire at any moment I was holding my breath and made sure to be unwaveringly present in mind and body my movements needed to be precise and accurate every moment was crucial my heart was beating loudly in my ears the whole time I noticed so many ants were already wandering out of the terrarium and it was in that moment that I received my very first bite the bobbleheads were biting the super worm housewarming gift I gave them with such joy and gusto it wasn't long before the bobbleheads had discovered the two new islands we had prepared for them it was so awesome to see ants traveled across the drift to a bridge to check out the new territories they could call home it was moments like this that made an keeping just so fulfilling ah I press the biting ant away despite the bite surprisingly the majority of the ants were still calm I had to keep going and not be bothered by the pain I proceeded to carefully remove the dead leaf nest and rest it onto the floor gosh I had dreamed of removing this hanging piece for months I can't even begin to describe now it was time to add the leaf litter I made sure that every bit of the ground was covered in this magical medium sauce teeming with bioactive life-forms I proceeded to add the plant then I dumped the dubia roaches I threw in the super worms to join the party and just when I thought everything was complete I remembered there was one last suction cup Therese t'k onto the wall to fixate the pipe but to reach this I had to open the other glass door panel now all of the canopy of ortega was exposed to the outside world reaching deeper into the terrarium to reese tick the pipe onto the glass I found myself face to face with the Emerald Empire just inches away from my head and when I thought that I had experienced the worst part their King another big surprise another button while the bobbleheads were enjoying their super worm another battle was happening just nearby the bobbleheads had seized a trespasser a wandering Weaver and had somehow managed to set foot on the new island of course there was no hope for the Weaver and against the bobbleheads who pulled at the Weaver ant from all sides and mauled it to death a second Weaver ant had also been unfortunate enough to land on the island and the bobbleheads were quick to capture it I suppose the Weaver ants managed to climb up into the lighting fixture above a Vista and fell down to their demise into the foreign and Kingdom there was just no hope for them though as they were greatly outnumbered the bobbleheads were indeed savage the Emerald Empire was indeed savage I had to finish up now irie stuck the last piping found on the other side of Verta and just like that I was done I had only been bitten twice during the ordeal which was not bad I sealed the tank up and the mission was complete I was happy to know that it would be months until the next maintenance visit into the canopy of our tesha was due and just on time the great typhoons arrived to all of the planets over the past four days the bobbleheads had settled into their new network of Triple Islands quite nicely I ended up swapping out the base to one large shared glass pan for the two smaller islands as this was much more space efficient my dreams of a Vista becoming a huge archipelago of floating islands were coming true as were my dreams of or tesha a sea family look it was now a multi-species vivarium the roaches lived happily in the forest habitats provided by Vorta they occupied the leaf litter huddled in spaces within the driftwood and even were daring enough to climb up into the treetops and congregate along the screen mesh escape dance were collected one by one by hand over the passing days and inserted back into vortex the rest were hunted down by the house geckos that run loose in the a broom speaking of hunting I did also catch the ants hunting the roaches look at this they caught a huge adult male I had no idea that could seize prey this big or maybe it had already died and they were opportunistically making use of the carcass whatever the case now that these tree dominated territories of Vorta and Avista were restored anew and the ants residing in these lands recreated enjoying upgrades to their homes it filled my heart with so much joy one thing's for sure I learned today how intimately connected my ants were to the trees that lived in their territories how protective they were of them and just how much the health and well-being of the ant colonies inherently depended on the health and well-being of the plants they live with isn't that something we continue to discover every time we step into these micro worlds of our ants a sea family that to truly appreciate one organism one must understand the bigger picture understand how it's connected to other organisms around and when you do understand why it's important to tend to clean up restored respect and appreciate the interconnectedness of life and the environment in which it is contained and due to this great interconnection Mother Nature has set up I learned this week that in caring for life we inherently care for ourselves after a long and successful day I looked down at the clippings and dead tree I had collected from our projects ordinarily I would throw these away but suddenly an awesome idea came to me an idea that I felt could possibly change and affect the lives of every creature and terrarium in the entire ACN Traverse AC family it was time to embark on a new and exciting biological engineering project AC family did you enjoy this week's episode trees are indeed integral parts of some of our ant colonies and like last week this week's episode is in part the a/c teams collaboration with mr. beast smarter every day mark rubber and thousands of other youtubers in their quest to plant twenty million trees by January 2020 so be sure to be part of the team trees movement by visiting team trees org to help out it only costs one dollar per tree this simple gesture will make such a big difference globally also if you enjoyed today's episode please be sure to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss out on the epic real-life stories of the ants and other creatures of the ant room and don't forget to hit the like button every single time including now if you're new to the channel and want to catch up on all your aunt's Canada Lord feel free to binge watch this complete storyline playlist here which traces the origins of all the ant colonies of the Antonine so you can follow their stories and better appreciate how these ant kingdoms came to be and why we love them so much a CNR colony I have left a hit-and cookie for you here if you'd like to see some extended play footage of me working within for Tessa as well as the aftermath the new Vorta is just awesome with all its new creatures and modifications go check it out and now it's time for the a/c question of the week last week we asked why do we need to cycle or change before adding in our great water beast congratulations to 9 hashbrowns who correctly answered enough to cycle your tank because if an animal went inside without cycling it would be filled with poison namely ammonia from waste congratulations Dan hashbrowns you just won a free ebook handbook from our shop in this week's a/c question of the week we ask named one of the bioactive creatures found in four tesha leave your answer in the comment section and you could also win a free ebook handbook from our shop hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time please remember to Like comment share and subscribe if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making more it's ant love forever

Channel: AntsCanada

Views: 656,736

Rating: 4.9095678 out of 5

Keywords: ants, antscanada, mikey bustos, myrmecology, antfarm, ant colony, ant nest, queen ant, formicarium, ant habitat, antworks, insects, science, pets, exotic, nature, 4K, Ultra HD, team trees, trees, big-headed ants, weaver ants, oecophylla smaragdina, pheidole, bites, terrarium, bioactive, arm

Id: kC0XUkY1n4I

Length: 33min 5sec (1985 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 09 2019