Once upon a time, in a space dimension known
as the Antiverse, lay nine ant kingdoms of various sizes and temperaments. Some tender and delicate, others majestic
and prolific, some modest and unoffensive, some blood-hungry, ravenous, and empiring. But one night, an intruding mass of foreign
visitors came flying into the skies of the Antiverse. These were termite royals, future kings and
queens of the Termite race, engaging in their annual mating flights. But having this sacred wedding in Antiverse
territory was a death sentence. All the ant kingdoms would feast this night,
even the eight-legged paupers waiting in the shadows of their silken favelas. The once promising termite kings and queens
fell into the river waters of the Selva de Fuego, kingdom to the Fire Nation, a stinging
fire ant colony. The termites became ant food. Termite kings and queens lost their lives
in the Hacienda Del Dorado, as the Golden Empire seized the termite monarchs to feast
upon their meaty, naked bodies! But perhaps the bloodiest of scenes, happened
within the Shire, kingdom to the Black Panthers, a highly skilled tribe of Asian Bullet ant
hunters, and on this night, the ants managed to hunt down each and every single termite
king and queen, clamouring about their territories for their lives... except, for one chosen royal pair, who destiny
to chosen to spare from the jaws of death. This newly betrothed pair of termite royals
were sealed away in darkness, while a new kingdom would be created to provide this new
termite king and queen, a rich and fertile land, so they could begin building their own
army. And so ladies and gentlemen, their story begins
now... Welcome to the AntsCanada Ant Channel. Please Subscribe to my channel, and hit the
bell icon. Welcome to the AC Family. Enjoy! AC Family, this is it. This episode was essentially almost 4 months
in the making, for me, it was four excruciating long months of careful planning, experimentation,
and hardest of all: secrecy. I was hoping most of you would forget about
the pair of termites that I saved in our Ants vs. Termites video, so that I could take the
time needed to properly establish a termite farm, but as always, you guys proved once
again that the AC Family never forgets. "You haven't posted anything about the termites! Please feature them as well..." "Termites intensify", "I'd like to see the
termites move in.", "Name them the Terminators if they are termites" "Meanwhile everyone just wants an update on
the termites" "I really hope it is the termites cause I
need termites in this family" "Termites?" "Term it es?" Even when I asked in community tab polls which
colony you guys would like to see a video on for the week, many of you made "termites"
an option! It got to the point where I had to do my best
to hold back the termite mob, with general posts to acknowledge their requests, but without
revealing me secret plans to... We need the termites! Alright... AC Family, I am pleased to say that the termite
wait is finally over. What you will see in this video is how termite
colonies form and just how vastly different they actually are from ants, and guys, the
truth about their secret life will truly blow you away! I admittedly have never been able to keep
a colony of termites in my life, so this was a huge journey of discovery for me, too, and
uncovering the truths about termites, I continually found myself saying "What?!" AC Family, keep on watching until the end. So, I have to be honest. Termites were always on the bottom of the
interesting list for me as a fan of eusocial insects. No offense to the termite lovers out there,
but even bee and wasp keeping seemed so much more interesting to me than keeping termites. I mean compared to ants and other Hymenopterans,
termites seemed a bit boring. In ants, there are so many colours, shapes,
ways of life. You have ants with bear traps on their face,
ants that tend fungus gardens, ants that form water rafts, ants that milk ant cows, even
Dracula ants that suck the blood of their own young! We ant keepers love that ants emerge from
their nests to forage in the open, to bring back food to the family. But termites, well, though admittedly diverse,
to me, all just seemed to have that general appearance and lifestyle of fat, squishy gummy
of an insect, that never leave their edible home and munch on wood and plant matter all
day. But AC Family, little did I know, I would
discover just how wrong I was, and how, four months later, my perspective and surprisingly,
fascination for termites, would change drastically. So in the past, just for kicks, I attempted
to raise a pair of king and queen termites, by capturing them during on a nuptial flight
and placing them in an ant-style test tube setup, with some soil, pieces of wood, and
cardboard. To my surprise, the pair had eggs a few weeks
later, but after that one time checking up on them, mysteriously the pair completely
died the very next day, and the only thing I could attribute it to was the light I used
to get a better look at the termites. The light bulb wasn't hot or too strong, but
I deduced that perhaps the termite alates were somehow photosensitive, that perhaps
once sealed in their claustral chamber the pair could not be exposed to light. It was that day, I blanketly dismissed termites,
as much too complicated to keep. But this time, I took a different approach. I chose to create a test tube setup again,
but this time, I kept the termites wrapped, and instead buried them, test tube setup and
all in a terrarium, in which I would place soils, rocks, peat, sphagnum moss, wood chips,
decaying cardboard and old paper, and a large piece of old driftwood. I kept this entire setup away in a closet
for 4 months, and low and behold AC Family, this is what the terrarium looked like nearly
four months later. Welcome to the Palace of Mounds. Now this attractive terrascape of wooden palisades
and complex network of satellite nest stations, is actually a combined designed effort between
myself and our new growing termite colony. Now, about the ants you see inside, just ignore
them for now. I'll get to them in a moment. But let me explain how this all happened. After about the second month, to my utter
delight, I began to notice small peculiar cavernous mounds protruding from the soil. It was confirmed, our king and queen have
been busy and successful. Now, I didn't want these termite mounds to
grow huge, and I absolutely knew they could, so before the mounds grew too big, I decided
to try something neat, and plucked these mounds out of the soil, to place securely onto the
main driftwood palisade. I wasn't sure if the termites, or even the
king or queen, were in these budding mounds because I never saw any termites at this point,
but I figured if there were termites in them, transplanting them might encourage the termites
to start burrowing into the main driftwood, which was what I initially was hoping for,
as opposed to some massive round mound I wouldn't be able to contain. But shortly after doing this, I began to notice
discreet soil tunnels connecting these transplanted mounds. I would have missed them had I not looked
carefully! The termites were definitely around, just
hiding from me... but then one day, I discovered this. The soil tunnels were extending onto the glass! Oh boy! Now AC Family, are you ready for this, looking
at the back of the terrarium, I checked to see if I could see inside the tunnels, and
yes, visual access into the tunnel. But still no termites. Hmmm... I decided to come back to check the tunnels
in the night, and AC Family, low and behold I
finally got sight of my very first termite worker! I went ballistic! Look at it traveling through the soil tube. It was soon met with another termite worker,
and another. I did some research, and it turns out termites
workers unlike ants, are rarely found out in the open, and do not forage unprotected,
so they rely on these soil tunnels called shelter tubes to protect them from predators,
especially their arch enemies: ants. So get this, these shelter tubes are made
of soil and the termites' own hardened feces! The soil-fecal shelter tubes harden and also
keep other competing organisms like this miniature wood roach out of their nest. I also was surprised to discover that these
shelter tubes protect their sensitive bodies from light, which confirms why we rarely see
termites foraging out in the open, and why my first termite pair died after light exposure. Turns out, the termites emerge at night to
build these shelter tubes, and that gave me an idea. I decided to pluck one of the termite mounds
out of the ground, this time at night, and AC Family that is when I finally got to meet
them. Behold, members of our prolific termite colony! Aren't they awesome, AC Family? I have never seen termites in a big group
like this in real life before so seeing them now like this was pretty unreal! Now as we marvel at this section of the colony,
let me share with you some of the mind-blowing things I learned about termites. Prepare to be mind-blown! Termites are eusocial insects that are classified
in the infraorder Isoptera, which used to be its own order of insects, but recently
got grouped under the order of, ready for it... roaches! Yes, phylogenetic studies indicate that termites
evolved from close ancestors of cockroaches during the Jurassic or Triassic Period, which
means way before T-rex and Triceratops walked the Earth, termites had already broken off
from their cockroach ancestors to form their own lineage of insects. Today, scientists classify termites under
the taxonomic Order of cockroaches: Blattodea. Isn't that crazy? Now, there are about 3,106 species of termites
discovered, with a few hundred more left to be named. You may notice the workers have different
sizes. One major difference between ants and termites
is their life cycle. So, as you know, ants go from egg, to larva,
to pupa, to adult ant right? But in termites, the metamorphosis is incomplete. They don't have a larval nor pupal stage like
ants, but rather simply go through a series of molts from egg, to a nymph, as seen here
to adult worker, much like roaches do. What's more amazing is that unlike ants which
start off as eggs and eventually end up becoming a minor worker, a normal worker, a major worker,
a queen, or a male ant, termites start off as eggs, proceed to nymph stage, then molt
to become a worker, but get this, can molt again and become a soldier, i.e. a major,
or can molt and become a queen or king alate! Isn't that wild? Even ordinary workers can become soliders
or reproductives. Another huge difference between ants and termites
is that as you know, in ants, all workers are barren females, right? Well, in termites... are you ready for this? The workers are males and females. Yes, so each of these termite workers, including
those soldiers, are either male or female, but barren, so they can't lay eggs, unless
of course any of the workers molt into reproductive queens later in their life. Isn't that wild? In the world of termites, there is no gender
bias in numbers or function. Termites live a world of gender equality. Now here's another amazing thing that sets
termites apart from ants! Unlike ants, where mating happens only once
during a mating flight and the queen is left solo to found her colony, since the males
die after mating, in termites, the male, known as a king, remains alive and pairs up with
a queen, finds a spot underground to roost, then mates for life, which means the king
and queen are inseparable, with the king constantly mating with his queen for her entire whopping
lifespan of 30-50 yrs! They are allegedly the longest living insect. That beats the widowed single-mother ant lifespan
of max 30 yrs or less. This also makes termites some of the most
monogamous organisms in the animal kingdom. And just when you thought it couldn't get
any cooler, unlike most ants where if the queen dies, it means there is no more egg-layer
in the colony, so the colony fizzles and dies out. But, you guessed it, in termites, they've
hacked that issue! If for any reason the queen or king were to
die, the colony has a special team of replacement queens and kings, supplementary reproductives,
which can transform into primary reproductives once given the pheromonal signal. So if a king were to be taken away, the queen
would produce a pheromone for one of the supplementary male alates to become her the colony's new
king and mate with her henceforth, and vice versa, if the queen were to be killed, the
king would release the pheromone giving rise to a supplementary female alate to become
the colony's new queen. Isn't that insane? Termite monarchs have heirs to the throne. Understudies waiting in the wings. But getting to the termite queen and king
is generally hard as their executive chamber known as the Queen's Cell, is highly guarded
by soldiers. I have no idea where our queen and king termites
are residing in the Palace of Mounds, but I hope by some miracle we one day get to see
them! Now let's talk about diet! Termites mostly feed on dead plant material
and cellulose, generally in the form of wood, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung. They have specialized symbionts in their gut
which help them digest these very tough substances. Another thing I found interesting was that
termite nymphs cannot feed themselves. These termites kids rely on adult worker termites
to feed them via trophallaxis, i.e. mouth to mouth feeding. This mouth to mouth feeding also transfers
some of that necessary microbiota in their gut into the nymphs' gut, so they too can
digest cellulose and other materials adult termites can eat. Speaking of which, I've also learned that
termites here in the Philippines will eat plastic, rubber, and styrofoam. Unbelievable right?! I bet our termites will end up eating the
synthetic plants, I used to decorate the territories. By the way, I chose to use synthetic plants
as opposed to real plants for this termite setup because first, plants need light to
grow, and I was scared to shine light into this termite setup in fear of killing them
again, but also, I figured the termites would eventually end up eating and killing the plants. At least, these synthetic plants will keep
green and crisp while they're being eaten. Now, while we're out here, about these ants
you see running around, it seems they came along with that main large driftwood piece
which I had actually brought in from outside. I counted at least three or four different
ant species wandering our Palace of Mounds, but today these ants no longer exist in the
territories. I believe I didn't have their queen, or they
more likely died of starvation. Because you see, after I realized there was
a growing population of termites in the terrarium, I decided to completely seal the enclosure,
so the termites would not escape and start turning my home into their palace. And I mean, there was no need to feed the
termites. They had all their food in there already. So the ants either had to eat termites or
starve, which I believe they did. But eventually, the completely sealed enclosure
started to fog up with condensation on the glass, which then lead to a mold outbreak
within the territories, as well, as many casualties of drowned termites on the glass, so, after
some time, I decided to leave the ventilation hole unplugged to dry out the lands a bit. Anyway, it didn't seem the termites were nimble
enough to climb glass, and keeping track of their whereabouts in the kingdom was quite
easy. I just had to make sure their shelter tubes
weren't heading upward. Today, the termite colony seems to have progressed
enormously! I see more and more of these shelter tubes
every day, growing out longer and longer from the various satellite nest stations, extending
out like earthen fingers, completely unsupported by anything. The shelter tubes continue to form connections
between satellite nests so the colony could move freely from nest to nest. These shelter tubes even extend downward into
the soil, and thankfully, the termites don't seem too shy to burrow up to the glass where
I can see and film them. As for the termites themselves, I am starting
to see more and more termite workers emerging from their satellite nests mounds, particularly
at night. I was curious about these growing mounds,
which upon closer inspection were actually quite beautiful structures, and apparently
these massive constructions are made of soil, digested material, and feces. Can you imagine living in a palace made from
your own feces and barf? But as I was watching the termites moving
about within the nest mounds' caverns and chambers, I realized their home was vulnerable
to possible mold outbreaks, and so I should really try to keep the lands a bit more on
the drier side, lest the colony lose their wooden palaces to mold, or even lose their
own lives to it. I truly love how the termites are super easy
to feed! No roaches, superworms, or sugar water needed. I just add a few pieces of wood, bark, dead
leaves, or veggies once a month. No garbage pile to collect either. Talk about low maintenance pets, right?! My dream is to hopefully one day catch a glimpse
of our royal queen or king again, perhaps moving through one of the shelter tubes, or
if the termites end up creating a Queen's Cell up nest to the glass, that would be awesome. Crossing fingers, AC Family! The queen shouldn't be too hard to spot, as
her gaster is probably huge and sausage-like by now, full of eggs. I have no doubt in my mind, this termite colony
will continue to grow quickly, as the queen can reportedly produce up to 40,000 eggs a
day! That's a lot of termites! Perhaps by then I should go ahead with my
initial idea to raise these termites as a food source for my ants. I'm not sure, but for now, I've decided that
these termites will be safe from becoming ant food, because well, I have a newfound
outlook and respect for these incredible animals. Don't you? They're super unique and oh so cute! And AC Family, I think you know what's next. This is a big one: What should we name this
epic termite colony? Leave your name suggestions in the comments,
and I will choose my top 5 favourites for us to vote on in a future video. I look forward to see what's up ahead for
these creatures that are one of Mother Nature's top detritivores and recyclers. So, that concludes today's story of our termite
kingdom. Whether you like ants or whether you like
termites, or both, the biggest thing I feel they have in common, is that despite them
both being notorious worldwide pests, it only takes a closer look into their secret lives
to discover that they're in many ways, some of the most impressive creatures on the planet. AC Family, thank you for watching, and it's
ant love fore... "Can't wait for the termites! Please do a video on them they're so cool!" Haha! AC Family, looks like it's a whole new ball
game with this great kingdom, and I feel we're in for a huge adventure ahead with these termites. I will surely update you on their progress,
so hit that Subscribe button and Bell icon now, so you don't miss out on the termite
tale ahead, and hit the like button every single time, including now. And 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 would just like to watch some extended play footage of the termites
in the Palace of Mounds. And before we proceed to the AC Question of
the Week, I'd like to plug my daily vlogging channel, daily vlogs which have become a full
out bird dad channel, as I am now raising a baby African Grey parrot! If you love birds, I'd love for you to meet
my new cute little bird! She's a handful, but I love her and I think
you would, too! And now it's time for the AC Question of the
Week! Last week we asked: What do these Dracula ants have in common
with our Black Panthers, i.e. Diacamma ants? Congratulations to
Defrino Gionaldo who correctly answered: Dracula ants and Black Panthers
both have gamergates, i.e. a mated dominant worker ant who assumes
the role of egg layer. Congratulations, Defrino, you just won a free
e-book handbook from our shop! In this week's AC Question of the Week, we
ask: What is the name given to
the highly protected nest chamber in which the Queen and King
termites are housed? 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!
