These strange ants kinda reminded me of fire
ants, only they were bigger, bumpier, hairier, and had this strange knuckle-looking waist
segment that caused their gaster to sort of point downwards. I couldn’t even identify the genus, I had
never seen an ant so odd. It didn’t look too friendly, and I had no
idea if they could sting me, so I was careful when collecting a specimen for identifying
in the lab. Anyway, I will also be sending this truly
exotic ant to Dr. General to identify, again crossing my fingers and hoping we discovered
something new. Now one scene did concern me, though. At one of the trees at the ravine, I noticed
a mob creating a commotion. It was a colony of black crazy ants, rallying
menacingly around another ant that they were holding hostage. The black crazy ants had seized a big-headed
ant which tried unsuccessfully to break free. This was an Invasive Ant species in the process
of dismembering and killing a native ant species. It was not good. The invasive ants had already begun to creep
into our forest to wreak havoc. AC Family, it was now time for us to initiate
Phase 1 of Operation Ant Paradise, and help stop this encroaching invasive ant threat
to our forest. Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the
BELL icon, welcome to the AC Family. Enjoy! Now indeed I could have just stomped on this
mob of invasive and ecologically dangerous black crazy ants, but in the larger scheme
of things, doing this wouldn’t have done a thing to solve the problem. These black crazy ants were most likely part
of a much more massive supercolony of black crazy ants encamped somewhere nearby, with
thousands of egg-laying queens adding to their numbers daily, so stomping on this localized
mob wouldn’t really be an effective way to eradicate them, from our new forest sanctuary,
that we just bought in our last episode, to act as a refuge for the native ants and local
wildlife. But, AC Family, the situation wasn’t hopeless! I knew a way to help keep unwanted invasive
ants like these black crazy ants far away from our new forest, and I’ll show you how
in this video. But first, in last week’s episode, you may
recall that I sent a couple ant specimens collected from our new forest to my ant taxonomist
and myrmecologist friend Dr. General, for him to officially identify in the lab. I was super curious to know what species they
were because, as you may know, one of the reasons I decided to buy our big forest, other
than to act as a nature reserve for ants, was for us to hopefully one day discover and
name a brand new ant species, never before documented by science. Now, if you think that dream sounds pretty
far-fetched, think again. Just two weeks ago, we made a breakthrough
ant discovery at our forest’s edge, where we happened to be the first to discover that
an ant named Meranoplus bicolor actually existed and was native to my country. Before two weeks ago, scientists didn’t
think it lived where I live, but thanks to us, the ant was added to the nation’s list
of local ant species, and our geographical record was added to the global catalogue of
ant species online. We successfully contributed to science, and
it showed us just how easy it was to make novel ant discoveries, and AC Family, have
I got some pretty crazy news for you! Dr. General sent me a text this week informing
me that we had in fact made, yet another novel ant discovery, I repeat we made a second novel
ant discovery, and it had to do with one of the two ant specimens collected from our new
forest, that I sent to Dr. General last week. I couldn’t wait to hear the news he had
to share with me, and inside I hoped and prayed he would tell us that we had just discovered
a brand new, undocumented ant species, we could call Blankety-blank acfamilius. While waiting for Dr. General to get back
to me with the exact news on our discovery, I knew there wasn’t a moment to waste. I wanted to get going with my plans to help
get rid of populations of invasive ants from our new forest ant reserve, like these highly
problematic black crazy ants. By the way, I wanted to give the black crazy
ants of Antopia a name. Leave your name suggestions for these balck
crazy ants in the comments, and I will choose my top 5 favourite names suggestions for all
of us to vote on as a community in a future video. By the way, be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my channel
so you can officially be part of the AC Family, as this channel is very interactive, and I
usually ask you guys for suggestions, for your opinions, for help in making important
choices, and VOTES in the comments section. Everything you guys see in my videos is essentially
like an ongoing nature reality series, that is immensely influenced and driven by your
awesome participation. Alright, so as a quick backgrounder, if you’re
new, this entire property you see here is called Antopia, and don’t worry AC Family,
I won’t go into lengthy detail this time as I’m sure you’ve all heard this recap
a hundred times now, but please bear with me as I super quickly catch the newbies up
to speed. Promise to breeze through this! So if you’re new, Antopia here is essentially
the yard and now, our new wild ant forest, that is adjacent to our future Ant House,
currently being built, which in essence is like our upcoming Ironman Mansion, but for
our pet ant colonies and exotic animals on this channel. Now as we wait patiently for the Ant House
to complete its construction, we’ve been turning our curious eye lately to the amazing
wilderness outside the Ant House, we’ve called Antopia, where a great War of the Ants
has been taking place. An ant war between “Team Native Ants”,
i.e. the good ants that we definitely want around, because they keep the ecosystem healthy,
and Team Invasive Ants, like these black crazy ants, who are invading ants which have migrated
from other countries due to human activities, that we don’t want around, due to their
ecological volatility and how they drive out our native ants, or as you can see here, how
they kill them in cold blood. So, AC Family, in order to solve the ant invasion
crisis, and keep our new Ant Forest & Nature Reserve healthy, I came up with a plan which
I call Operation: Ant Paradise, and I think you guys will love what I’m about to show
you. Preparing to play God in 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1. I received a text. OMG it was Dr. General. “Hi, AntsCanada!” He wrote. “The ant you sent of unknown genus is Dilobocondyla,
and she’s a beauty!” Dilobocondyla? Not only had I never seen an ant like it before,
I also had never heard of that genus before! “Good evening, Dr. General!” I texted back. “Wow! Dilobocondyla! I will have to look that genus up.” But I couldn’t help but ask the big question: “Are you able to determine a species?” To which he replied: “I’m still enjoying watching it walking
around. Hehe.” That’s cool. Guess, we still had to wait a little longer
to see if it was a brand new, undiscovered ant species, that we could possibly name Dilobocondyla
acfamilius. But looking up the ant genus Dilobocondyla
online, I was amazed to discover that there were only 22 Dilobocondyla species described
in the entire world, and they were generally native to Asia and Australasia, but the most
shocking thing about Dilobocondyla that I found, leaped right off the screen at me:
Dilobocondyla ants were rare! Wow! AC Family, can you believe this ant from our
ant forest was rare? Now I really couldn’t wait to find out if
it was a brand new ant species! Needless to say, I was definitely getting
antsy. So my plan for Operation: Ant Paradise was
this: I needed to further support and forest our new Ant Reserve to create more ideal habitat
for native ants to live in. The principle is simple: The healthier and
more thriving the forest, the more habitat there is for the native ants already living
there, and with a stronger, healthier population of native ants, it naturally puts any advancing
invasive ant colonies at a disadvantage. For instance, we’ve already seen in previous
episodes how some native ants like Weaver Ants and our Meranoplus bicolor ants actually
gobble up invasive fire ants for dinner, so, if we could help the weaver ant and Meranoplus
colonies in our forest get bigger, stronger, and more numerous by giving them more and
better places and resources to live, then the fire ants will be kept at bay, and our
forest, with all its ants and life within would be safer. So how does one further “support and forest”
an area, anyway you ask? Well, AC Family, here’s where things get
really fun, and we get to play God. Just kidding! It’s time to teach you guys some basic permaculture. Check this out, guys! So a forest is healthiest and most stable
when it has all of seven layers. The healthiest forests of the world all have
these seven key layers of vegetation, which all interact with each other and help the
forest self-replicate, self nourish, and provide all the essential habitat and nutrients to
sustain the wildlife that live within. The first layer, AC Family, is called the
‘Canopy’ also known as the ‘Overstory’. The canopy are the forest’s tallest trees,
and in our Antopian forest here our canopy is composed mostly of huge Acacia and tamarind
trees, as well as some other really massive native trees scattered sparsely here and there. The second layer to a healthy forest, beneath
the canopy or overstory, is called the ‘Understory’. These are the secondary trees, that don’t
grow quite as tall as the trees of the canopy, but remain just under them. In our forest, we have trees like guava and
malabar chestnut also known as money trees that make up our understory. Cool right? Moving on... Then beneath the Understory is the third layer
of the forest: Bushes and shrubs, of which we have a tonne in our forest, including various
berries and flower bushes of which I have no idea the species, but we have a lot. The fourth layer of a healthy forest is called
the “Herbaceous Layer”, basically herbaceous plants that lack bark. In our forest, we have banana and papaya,
as well as various bamboo species growing in monstrous clumps all around. Actually, bamboo are unique in that they occupy
multiple layers of the forest including the three layers already mentioned. The fifth layer is “Ground Cover” and
in our forest, we again have a tonne of this layer. The forest edge has expansive grasses that
provide habitat to our Meranoplus, and remember that Maple Leaf-looking carpeting plant at
the seasonal Creek Pathway region of our forest? Beneath all the layers is the fifth layer
known as the “Root System”, basically vegetation with tubers or large roots. In our forest, we have a tonne of wild ginger
and taro, and you should know that bamboo have roots that go down to hell! Truly huge and deep root systems! And finally, the last layer of forest are
the “Climbers”, which wind and creep through all the forests’ layers: the vines and epiphytes! Our Forest Ravine and Creek have lots and
lots of vines all around, various species of them, and at one section of our forest
we even have a massive banyan tree, which is essentially a parasitic vine that envelops
the exterior of a host tree of the canopy. And so, guys, these are the seven layers of
a healthy forest, and as mentioned, the more abundant the plant life in each of these layers,
the more a forest is able to self-replicate, meaning continue expanding outward on its
own, self-nourish by way of dead leaves and wood returning nutrients back to the soil,
and provide all the essential habitat and food for the wildlife that live within, and
in this case, the native ants. So going back to Operation: Ant Paradise,
I found that all layers of the forest were indeed present in our new ant forest, however,
in permaculture, I learned that it’s possible to add more to the layers of a forest, provided
the plants aren’t invasive, to make the forest even more lush and healthy. And so, here was what I was adding to our
Ant Forest! To add to our Overstory, the first layer,
which was a bit lacking especially at the forest edge, I planted mango. I figured mango was the perfect tree to add
to our forest canopy because mango trees are an ultimate favourite for weaver ants. Weaver ants go absolutely bananas, I mean,
absolutely mangoes, for mango trees! I’m not sure if the ants actually eat the
mangoes, or if they love the taste of its nectar from the flowers, or if the shape of
the leaves make it easy for Weaver Ants to construct their nests in them, or if mango
trees attract a greater array of plant insects that weaver ants love milking honeydew from,
or if it’s a combination of all of the above, but I felt a nice, healthy mango tree right
here would be great for our forest. This mango tree will take 3-5 years to mature
enough to bear fruit, so it was a good thing we were starting now. I’m hoping you guys will still be subscribed
to me by then! Haha! Alright, next: to add to our second forest
layer, our Understory, I planted Annona squamosa, a sugar-apple tree. This tree prefers a bit of shade, so it was
perfect here at the forest ravine. To add to our third forest layer of bushes
and shrubs, I planted a citrus bush. For our fourth layer, the Herbaceous plants,
I planted more banana. Any banana fans out there? For our fifth and sixth layer, ground cover
and root system, I planted some sweet potato. And for our seventh layer, for thick and prolific
climbing vines, I planted bitter gourd and string beans. And that was it! I’ll be sure to add to these various forest
layers more and more, as time goes on, but you may be wondering why most of these plants
I’ve added to our forest are fruits and vegetables. Well, take note that they didn’t have to
be. I could have also planted other native plants
and trees, which I indeed do plan to do over time, but I just figured I’d might as well
kill two birds with one stone, and start growing some fruits and veggies that I could eat myself,
while adding to our forest to help make it a better haven for our ants. I mean, the fruit trees themselves take years
to bear fruit, so might as well start with them right? The beauty of it all, is I won’t need fertilizers
for the soil because the forest’s decaying material and animals would take care of that
as they would in any regular forest, and I wouldn’t need pesticides for my fruits and
veggies because our forest here will host a tonne of beneficial ants and predatory insects,
birds, and other animals that will help eat the pests! It’s the exact same principle that makes
“Operation: Ant Paradise” work at keeping away the pesky invasive ants! In fact, this awesome idea of growing your
food in a forest is known as the “food forest” concept, one of the most interesting aspects
of permaculture in my opinion, and if you’d like to learn more about it, I highly recommend
the channel of Geoff Lawton, who talks a lot about food forests and how to sustainably
grow food in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment. Anyway, it made me so happy to start on our
long-term journey of making our Ant Nature Reserve more lush for the native ants, and
ultimately making it a true Ant Paradise. Now I know I keep calling our Nature Reserve
an ‘Ant Paradise’, but ants are just so interconnected with all living things around
them, both plants and animals, that in reality, our Ant Paradise is actually a paradise for
all life living here. In fact, get this, AC Family: in just the
few months that we’ve been working on Antopia, the workers constructing the Ant House and
I, have already spotted a tonne of crazy wild life, including tokay geckos, cobras, reticulated
pythons, monitor lizards, skinks, flying lizards, an endemic owl, hawks, kingfishers, swiftlets,
fruit bats, native tarantulas and huntsmen, butterflies, rhino beetles, and wild fowl,
and I’m sure a tonne more animals are out there hiding in our forest that we haven’t
discovered yet. So you see, our Ant Paradise here is by default,
a safe haven and food forest for all creatures great and small living in the area. And did you know that you, too could try this
at home? Particularly important if you live in a large
city with not much natural habitat around, perhaps you might want to consider building
your own small-scale Ant Paradise or Nature Reserve. If you own a backyard, perhaps you or your
parents might be open to foresting a part of it, to help support your ants and local
wildlife. You don’t need all the layers of a forest. I don’t expect you guys to be planting a
huge mango tree in your yard, but perhaps some of the other possible layers. I remember growing up in Canada, my dad was
cool enough to allow me to let one corner of our yard just grow wild. We didn’t cut the grass in that corner,
and I also planted some garden plants and created a miniature pond, and to my delightful
surprise, that little haven of lush habitat, though small, actually went on to attracted
a tonne of animals to the yard including various song birds of different colours that came
to visit the pond to drink and bathe, toads that came to swim and feed, insects that loved
the plant life, and indeed ants I’d never seen before in my yard. For you parents out there, perhaps this would
be a unique opportunity to engage in some educational fun with your kids or grow your
fruits and veggies in the garden in a unique way, and if you’re a student, perhaps this
might make a great science project, building a nature reserve or miniature forest in your
yard. Trust me, your local ants and wildlife will
thank you. Tomorrow March 21st is International Day of
Forests, and reforesting, as well as restoration of natural habitat and implementation of more
sustainable, eco-friendly living are definitely things we need to do now more than ever and
take much more seriously, in light of climate change and our current trajectory in the world. But I feel we, the AC Family, are on the right
track, and we definitely did good today by further building and strengthening our new
forest. It’s an undeniable truth that the world’s
forests hold the secrets to our continued survival and that of the entire planet, so
we need to protect them. Now speaking of unveiling forest secrets,
Dr. General finally texted me tonight regarding the details of what is now our second ant
discovery from our ant forest. He examined the Dilobocondyla ant, and had
this to share about it: “Hi AntsCanada, your ant is Dilobocondyla
carinata, a new distributional island record! Congrats! I still have to examine the Crematogaster.” Yay, AC Family! Turns out, just like with the Meranoplus,
we had just discovered a new locality for Dilobocondyla carinata, but instead of us
being the first to discover this ant existed in my country, we were the first to discover
it existed on the particular island on which I am living. Still huge, and very cool that we all contributed
to science for a second time! High five, AC Family! We’re on a roll! I can’t wait to hear back from Dr. General
to hear what he finds out about the Creamtogaster ants, I also sent him. Could those be a new ant species or maybe
our third new geographical ant record? I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on what
he finds out. In case you guys were wondering about the
other 82 acre land that I also bought for the ants, I’m trying to make arrangements
to go there and show you guys around, but because it’s hard to travel at the moment,
we’ll have to wait until things open up a bit more because we have to take a plane
there. That’s how far away and remote the land
is! But for now, until we return to Antopia and
our new beautiful, Ant Forest, thank you all for watching, and supporting the ants. It’s ant love forever! AC Family, did you enjoy today’s episode? Do you think we’ll make any more ant scientific
discoveries in our new ant forest? So much nature and ant fun is ahead, so if
you haven’t yet, what are you waiting for? Come be a part of the exciting ant journey,
and SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL, so you get notified at every
upload. Also don’t forget to hit the LIKE button
every single time including now. It would really mean a lot to me, guys. Thank you! AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie
for you here, if you would like to watch random relaxing scenes within our new ant forest! Take a meditative walk through our forest
if you need some de-stressing! And guys, 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! We also have a helpful forum and ant colony
trading marketplace on the site. Visit AntsCanada.com today. And now it’s time for the AC Question of
the Week. Last week, we asked: Which was your favourite region of our new
forest and why? Congratulations to Serghei Sisianu who answered: I really liked the tunnel. It brought back childhood memories. Congratulations Serghei, you just won a free
Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! In this week’s AC Question of the Week we
ask: Name one layer of a healthy forest. Leave your answer in the comments section
and you could also win a free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop! Hope you could 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!
