Every place has its own proverbial red
ants, and black ants. In North America and Europe for instance, red ants usually refer to Myrmica, Tetramorium, or Solenopsis ants while black ants usually mean Formica or
Lasius ants. In this episode of the AntsCanada Ant Channel I wanted to introduce to you what many
people in the tropics refer to as red ants and black ants One, happens to be
the hardest ant species I have ever kept as pets while the other, The easiest I'm talking about; red tropical fire
ants and black crazy ants both of these
species have successfully invaded nearly all tropical parts of the world. They also happen to be arch enemies. It's
expected because they share command and conquer the same habitat, occupy the same
niches, and compete for the same resources and food. I will show you how both the species
hunt, kill, feed, and attack, and we will watch them fight. I'll explain their very contrasting
personalities, and explain what they're like as pets. I'll also go over what I feel
qualifies as: "easy pet and species to keep" and list some of my
recommendations for common easy to keep ants in other parts of the world. So keep watching until the end. Ladies
and gentlemen, welcome everyone to another episode of the AntsCanada ant channel. Now if you read the title of the video
and we're hoping for me to mix my grown black and red ant colonies together, and
film their epic and blood-curdling battle, let me clarify something. As an ant lover, it would kill me; to see two colonies
I've owned- and loved, kill each other in minutes. But, with that being said, Ant wars
between these two species do happen in the wild. So, what i will do for all of you curious
to see ants fight, is insert some worker ants from a wild ant colony, and place
them in with my own colonies, and see how they manage to seize an attack ants of
the other species, that coming up later. I personally don't know who would win
in an ant war between these two species, but perhaps by the end of the video, I'll leave it up to you guys to decide
who would win in a fight. So let's take a closer look first at red
tropical fire ants, also known as: Solenopsis Geminata. If you saw one of
our previous videos on fire ants as pets you may already know what they're like.
They're ferocious, stinging, hungry, and explosive ants. Red tropical fire ants
originated in South America, but have managed to migrate and invade other
parts of the world, nearly all tropical and subtropical
countries. They manage to do this through human activities like shipping of crates,
possibly fruits - and plant life. Their colony contains just one queen - who lays
many, many eggs throughout the day and night. You can see her here. She's larger than
the rest of them. and her only job is basically to lay eggs. From these eggs
hatch larvae, which you see here. They kind of look like grains of rice. These larvae pupate and from them emerge
adult worker ants. It only takes a few weeks to go from egg
to worker. This here was the colony last month - and
in just over four weeks they grew so much and produced so much brood that
they've expanded into a second nest and I've even had to attach more nest units
to their setup. I love doing this. You see, red tropical
fire ants are semi-nomadic, which means they set up nests in ideal locations but -
will gladly pick up and move the entire colony - queen and brood included, to new
places. So, these ants get really excited when
they have new territory to command and conquer. Watch as I connect these two AC Outworlds
to their network with tubes. I've modified these AC Outworlds with an
AC field and forest biome kit, so that the ants can have places to nest when
they feel they need to expand. This here is Fire Ant Mountain - and this is
solenopsis hill and I've got this connector prepared for the test tube
that attaches to this hole where I'm about to stick this to which leads to
the two AC Outworlds. Here we go! Unplugging - the sugar test tube - placing that tube there and placing the Sugar test tube - into that portal and there
they go! Let's watch them move in. Gotta clean up some escapees here, Look how excited they are! Gotta do some arranging of tubes here. Watch them explore solenopsis hill. and Fire Ant Mountain! The move happens so smoothly, and exactly
as planned. I loved watching them explore their new
territory. Hopefully, they'll like the new homes
that I gave them. and they'll eventually move their brood
into those living spaces - when their colony gets big enough. I've even added a tower! Just to give them a little topography. Meanwhile, on the same table top nearby - Another energetic ant colony moves silently into their formicarium. A colony with not one queen... but 2 queens! These are Black Crazy Ants - Paratrechina Longicornis. Also globally invasive ants that have established themselves
in nearly all subtropical and tropical regions of the world. Nobody knows where they originated from
for sure, but it's suspected by myrmecologist Dr. James Trager, that they
came from India. Unlike the Red Tropical Fire Ants, these
Black Crazy Ants have multiple queens in their colonies, so their colonies grow
many times faster than fire ant colonies. Though this Black Crazy Ant colony is
younger than my red tropical fire ant colony, I suspect that these Black Crazy Ants
will soon catch up in size. Another thing that sets these ants apart
from fire ants, is that they don't have stingers - These ants spray formic acid -
which they use for both defense, and attacking prey. Another great feature is the amazing
speed that these Crazy Ants have. They are explosively fast-moving ants. Which
gives them their name Crazy Ants - because their speedy and sporadic
movements make these ants look pretty crazy. While Red Tropical Fire Ants subdue and
kill their prey by swarming, biting, and stinging, Black Crazy Ants subdue their
prey by pulling their prey from all sides. Stretching them out so they're helpless, Black Crazy Ants have long and strong legs - so they're combined pulling action can
immobilize their prey while other ends go in and spray formic acid. What I love most about black crazy ants, is how they gorge themselves with food. Especially sweets - and carry the goodies
back to their colony and their social stomachs for sharing with their family - back at the nest. Watch as these black
crazy and fill up on honey - to maximum capacity. Fire Ants are also very entertaining
ants to watch during feeding time. What I love the most about Fire
Ants during feeding time - is how ferocious and aggressive they are. And I love that
their workers are polymorphic - which means they have different sizes. We've got small workers, medium-sized
workers, and majors with huge heads which specialized in tearing into prey. Alright guys so the moment you all have
been waiting for - it's time to perform a micro experiment. and as I said, Solenopsis Geminata and Paratrechina Longicornis - are natural enemies in the wild. and also as I said before, I
couldn't swallow taking a worker from one of my own ant colonies - and mixing it
with another of my ant colonies - but - Due to popular demand, for observation sake I resolved to capture some wild workers and place them in with my captive colonies, to see what happens when one
species - enters the territory of another species. So let's start with the Black Crazy Ants. I found two fire ants from outside - and placed them in with my Paratrechina Longicornis colony Here's what happened: The Crazy Ants
instantly became aware of the fire ants word spread fast by way of pheromones - and the Crazy Ants instantly seized the Fire Ants and stretch them by all limbs. The Fire Ants tried to fight back - by attempting to sting the Crazy Ants - but
the Crazy Ants long powerful legs stretching the Fire Ant from all sides simply made any direct contact with the Crazy Ants impossible Meanwhile, other workers went into spray
formic acid. In the end, the workers carried the Fire Ants back to the nest. Perhaps to consume them, and feed them to
the young. Ruthless... And now for the fire ants. I managed to find two Crazy Ant workers
foraging one of my bathrooms. I place them into the Outworld - which was
teeming with Fire Ant workers. And what happened next - shocked me. The Crazy Ants remained unnoticed! The Black Crazy Ants identified quickly
that they were amidst a colony of Fire Ants - and they zig-zagged and raced through
the swarm of fire ants so quickly and nimbly - that the fire ants never realized
they had enemies wondering their territory In fact, the Crazy Ants were so fast it
was hard for my camera to focus quickly enough and catch them zooming around. In fact many times it was even hard for
me to follow the crazy ants with my own eyes - and I would often lose them. I observe these Crazy Ants for half an
hour - as they zipped around the Fire Ant colony literally running circles around the
Fire Ants! They move through them with ease unseen, and unscathed. It was an amazing
thing to witness. So it seems the Red Tropical Fire Ants
have ferocity, a powerful stinger with venom that could kill creatures many
times their size - They have specialized workers, Have a more solid build - and use the swarming technique. While black crazy ants have speed, agility, formic acid
spray, are built lighter and use the stretching technique. So what do you guys say? Who do you think
would win? In an epic ant war between Red Tropical Fire Ants, and Black Crazy Ants. Let me know in the comments section. Overall both these species as pets are pretty rewarding Red Tropical Fire Ants are the hardest
species I have ever kept - simply due to their ability to escape homemade setups, their aggressiveness, their great demand for food and water - and their painful stings. But if you can get over these challenges they make
awesome, awesome pets. Alternatively, Black Crazy Ants are
pretty much - the easiest species I've ever kept. They eat nearly everything I
give them. I can move them in and out of places by
simply using the heat from a light bulb, they don't sting, and are actually afraid
of my tweezers, and they otherwise behave and act exactly as I hope for them to - no
surprises. That to me is a perfect ant colony. It's
amazing to think that these two very different ant species, which are natural
enemies - are housed so close together and they have no idea! just a couple of thin layers of poly
vinyl tubing separates them from an epic battle - and for those of you who are
still hoping for it and i know you're going to leave comments. No, I will never. ever. Mix these two
colonies together So, if you're from North America or
Europe what are some easy ant species to keep? For me? Tetramorium Species E
if you're in North America - or Tetramorium Caespitum, are amazing ants to keep as pets They're easy to keep, they tolerate a broad array of
conditions, are super common, have fast-growing colonies, and are awesome to
watch hunt for food. They're super aggressive and they have
stingers but here's the best part their stingers are not large enough to
hurt humans. Their nuptial flights are actually happening right now - so go outside and look for those Tetramorium queens. In close second place - if not tied
for the easiest ants to keep are Lasius Neoniger in North America, and Lasius Niger in Europe. Camponotus ants as well, but their colonies
can be slow growing at the start. Anyway guys that's it for this week's video! Thank you for watching - and please! Let us know what the Red and Black ants are
like in your area. We'd love to hear about them in the comments section. Until next week, it's ant love forever. This is AntsCanada singing out. Hey guys thanks so much for watching our
brand new video: Red ants versus Black ants. Hope you
liked it and don't forget to subscribe to our videos because we now thanks to you
guys release a video every single week! All of you guys commented in our last
video when we asked if you prefer that we upload every Monday instead of every
first and third monday so now we listened and I am going to upload every
single week so please do subscribe and look out for our uploaded videos every
Monday also if you would like to get into ant
keeping don't forget to watch our ant tutorial playlist which has pretty much
all the basics on ant keeping if you would like to get into the hobby as well
if you like watching ants don't forget to check out our Solenopsis Geminata
playlist and please do visit us at antscanada.com for ant keeping info, for
professional ant farms, for buying and selling of ant colonies with a queen - and
we've got an awesome ant forum there for all of you guys who like to connect with
other ant keepers around the world it's really a great thing so please come
and join us I'd also like to give a grand shoutout to a very good friend of mine
whose name is Alex Wild who happens to be a biologist and nature photographer he's also a taxonomist and a very
well-known blogger so please visit his site at alexanderwild.com he is very kind of nice enough to give
me permission to use his ant photos in our video so all of these amazing
quality photos that you'll be seeing in our videos are photographed by Alex wild
and you'll be shocked his photos are fantastic and he is my absolute favorite
nature photographer so you can order prints of his work and place them on
your wall it would make a great decoration for any ant room.
