My Ants Have 'Facehugger' Mites
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- My ants have 'Facehugger' mites: The future was looking hopeful for my new young ant colony of carpenter ants, named the Woodland Warriors, which had lots of young and a healthy-looking queen ant laying eggs. However, all that changed when I spotted a huge mite on the underside of the workers' heads. I wasn't sure what to make of it, and tried to assess whether the scary-looking had a symbiotic relationship with the ants. I consulted some mite experts and learned a few things about them over this past week. Hope you enjoy this week's episode. Ant love forever! This video was shot in 4K Ultra HD resolution. #CarpenterAnts #Mites #Parasites
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Greetings, Ant Lovers/AC Family! I can't believe 'Facehuggers' actually exist outside sci-fi movies and in the microworld of ants! Hope you guys remember to hit LIKE, SHARE, & SUBSCRIBE (hit the BELL and select ALL for Notifications Squad) if you enjoyed this video. After hearing all the info I share in this video, please do let me know what you guys think we should do. I'm very worried for our Woodland Warriors. Thank you so much, guys! I know we can deal with this mite situation together. Ant love forever!
Hey AntsCanada i see you leaked the next video thumbnail few hours ago in twitter
Yes
Hi
Hello antscanada
ok
In a word: Quarantine.
I think at minimum you should isolate the ants with the mites in a separate setup, you're at a rare stage where it would actually be possible for you to do so. After that point probably cool the ant and mite down in a fridge for a bit so you can brush off the mite and take some pictures of it, and then leave the ant with the mite for observation.
I support this suggestion. For the research purposes it would suck to send the mite across the sea, quarantine the mite-infested ant, and observe. If possible get pictures of the underside of the mite, so the pros can look at it. If they are able to determine what the mite is from puctures/video you may know within a day if the mite is beneficial or lethal...
Definitely like this suggestion, as it minimizes the risks to the main colony, but also allows you to observe better.
100% agree to take a photo of the mite. Sending it to the states and waiting on results could take months.
i love the idea and i just was thinking of the same thing
Yes I agree!
My suggestion is try to fish out the ant with the mite, and try to brush off the mite with cotton bud into the test tube and returning the ant back to colony. By letting those mites to multiply, you are probably dooming the colony without knowing it. Better be safe than sorry.
Yeah sounds like a good idea. And then send the mites to the researchers.
Is it bad that I thought he should just kill the ant?
Gonna like so he sees this
Definitely remove the infected ants.
Briliant
As a biologist myself, I suggest sending both the ant and the mite in ethanol so that it can be determined which Companotus sp. is involved in this interaction. The colony will still do well with one worker less, in nature a colony loses workers continuously.
@Kode Even then, in the early stage of an ant colony, they will lose ant workers that go out to forage. As long if they dont lose too many, the growth of the colony will be exponential.
I concur, this would even help in the future for other ant keepers.
The fact that Kaitlyn said it could possibly be detrimental, tells me you need to send it. Don't risk the whole colony. Besides, if there ARE more than one, you'll be ok if they are harmless.
How many test tube ant queens do you think Mikey has in his ant queen drawer at any given time? Right now the colony is small enough to "just start over" if it comes to that.
@@jawasstolemydroid4930 Well if you stick around here long enough you'll understand one thing. Mikey sees ants like Cats and dogs. Having them die for no reason is unacceptable to him.
I agree - send an ant with the mite - the fact that both experts feel the mite Might be harmful is reason enough to remove it and send for identification. The risk of a harmful infestation that could kill this colony as well seems too great. Also, re the possible source of the mite - it may have come in through the food offerings - mealworm or roach...I'd check them for evidence of the mite as well.
@@DarthVantos I've been around long enough to see him start over a few times. I get that he respects life and doesn't WANT them to die, but he has a backup plan just in case.
I think this is the most logical because if mites can (almost) kill the golden empire when it had millions of ants a single mite that size with a growing colony will almost definitely kill them
Everybody gangsta till a mini six legged alien bursted out of the ant's chest
When I saw this comment it made me laugh for five minuts
*_Screeee!_*
Make a tiny flamethrower with a lighter
Ant climbs on walls
Xenomorph climbs on walls
Facehugger on ant
Everybody gangsta till the mite evolve to be the size of a crab.
I feel it’s better to be safe than sorry especially since we’ve seen how deadly mites can be to even massive colonies.
True
True
True
True go brrrrrrr
True
Mike! There is at least two of the mites!
At about the 1:09 mark, there is the mite clearly seen on the ant in the center frame, but there is a second mite attached to an ant on the left as well. (If you pause and go through the video slowly with the < and > keys, you can get a more clear view of it.) I actually thought you knew there was a second mite there, and that was why you used that particular shot at that moment.
@@dacomputernerd4096 yes but sending even one could still be harmful to the colony. What if they are mating partners? If he takes away the female there is a possibility that she might lay eggs somewhere outside the colony. If he takes away the male we could only hope that the female can manage all those mites alone or that they are independent from the start.
@@dacomputernerd4096 and if we're lucky soon enough larvae will appear meaning mike will be able to take one when they grow up and then we can learn more.
@@LazyAlex_ sorry but his reaction to removing the mites seems very irrational to me. The doctor clearly said that some of those can be harmful for the ants. I think if she thought the mites could possibly benefit the ants so much as to the colony dieing when removing it, she wouldn't have suggested removing it.
I see it, good eyes
Oh god u right
Doing nothing about these mites right now is like knowing you have a tumor but waiting a few months to see if it's benign before seeing a doctor. There are some things you just don't risk like that.
It could also be like if your dog/cat has weird symptoms, but you decide to send it to the vet a couple weeks or months later.
Tell that to my dad lol the guy waited 2 years and only went to a doctor bc thr thing got so huge he couldnt breath ;)
The mite was like: *Ight, you're my Uber now, let's gooo*
I wouldn't wait it out. Waiting it out is the worst thing to do for any pet. I'm no expert but that does look like one of those harmful ones to me. And since there's another one at 1:09, I think it is best to remove a mite and ship it to the US. We don't want to lose a colony so early on. And like you said, every worker counts so you shouldn't send it attached to an ant. If the mite doesn't return and they find out it is harmful, you won't regret making that decision
Comment so antscanada sees this
Less goooo
its a mesostigmata, and wiki says "Mesostigmata is an order of mites belonging to the Parasitiformes. Unlike most members of that group, many of these mites are not parasitic but free-living and predatory. They can be recognized by the single pair of spiracles positioned laterally on the body. The family with the most described species is Phytoseiidae". i dont know if "Non-parasitic" means its not dangerous or not though
@@givemeanameiwillhate9525 I saw a myrmecologist in the comments section warn him that it’s not a Mesostigmata but a Caesarodispus. Which ARE harmful. I guess we won’t know unless he sends it
@@legowagfles7287 then too bad the Wiki is wrong probably maybe i guess
I’d send the sample ASAP, then keep a close eye on the colony’s development and be prepared to step in if it’s affected negatively
Basically.
Luckily AntsCanada likes this comment and other comments that basically tell the same. That way we can be 100% sure that he saw them.
I'm stuck on "but what if they're harmful?" I think you should get them checked out immediately.
Agreed. If the mites haven’t been there before, how can he consider them potentially “vital” to the colony? Get them out, and send them off to the specialists before it’s too late. Unless ... a catastrophic die-off is what he is hoping for, to keep the channel drama going.
They might still be vital felow.
@@johannesrubbestad3937 “Might be” isn’t exactly reassuring. I would rather err on the side of caution. Why risk another mite infestation? Better control it now when they are still easy to spot and single out.
@@dartmart9263 how is he supposed to get the mites out
mickey fell in love with the bliming mite lol
top ten most unexpected anime plot twists
Insect relationships are quite fascinating to me, the ants really don't seem to mind that there's literally another living thing moving around on their bodies
I FOUND YOU
Stop being everywhere pls
3rd
LOL i finally found you after months
Wow u came back
As a pet owner, i would never take this risk; but as a research biologist, I cant ignore this rare opportunity to observe the interactions between the ant and the mite
😂
That’s an interesting conflict you have here
@@randomperson8994 yeh ur random
yeah i agree
I agree with you, and therefore recommend sending the colony to the researchers. 🤷♂️
"I could release the unharmed mite.." Mikey is literally the most compassionate and thoughtful person I've ever heard of. Personally I'd freak out and take it out, but he is waiting to make the right decision and I respect that.
True
I think he's called Michael
@@8Eyad-nady8 no hes called mikey
I love how in class we just learned about types of coevolution and I’m now seeing it in a youtube video.
Lol we learn about nothing useful in school, only in TH-cam videos.
I learned it on tv
same
The only thing I’m confused about is that if the golden empire is dead or not
Same
Only AntsCanada has the power to make you emotionally attached to a pair of ants
Yup, true.
Yeah exactly lol
Which is why I stopped stomping on random ants.
True
It's true
Your entire channel changed my perspective on ants and now I don't see them as an annoyance, there is a carpenter ant colony in my backyard and I love watching them try to carry big pieces of food into their nest, which obviously can't fit. My little brother was so inspired to start his own colony of ants from watching your channel, and now he's inspired me too. I can't wait to see your carpenter ant colony grow!
These TH-cam videos are like biology classes but it doesn’t make you bored out of you skull
True
And they don’t give you any information, Antscanada is just for entertainment, not knowledge
@@kotaq_ AC is both education and entertainment. Vast amounts of people, including myself, started their journey with ant keeping and bioactive terrarium making from this channel. Stop trying to speak for the millions of subscribers. I have learned so much from this channel in all the years I've been watching.
@@Komadin i don’t say he isn’t a good content creator and doesn’t inspire many people, but he often does things just for the views, for example prolonging the lives of the stray mite-infected workers of his YCA colony instead of just killing them. I also have started my antkeeping journey when I was watching him, but now I know that it isn’t always a good thing to follow a persons path, because they have subs
Yes.
The safest course of action currently is to isolate and film the mites. That way you can keep them if they do end up being beneficial.
I think this would cause the least disruption.
Agreed
Idea for experiment: quarantine the ants with and without mites separately to see what happens, this not only prevents any spread of the mites if they're bad but also allows for a chance to mass cure the infected as they're already together. The colony is still relatively small so hopefully it should be ok to do the move one by one (with tweezers)
I believe you should send them for research. If they’re harmful, then even it’s there’s just the one it’s eliminated and helped further research. If the mite was beneficial, the ants will adapt just like any other colony, and that’s no issue. I think sending the mite for analysis only benefits :)
I agree with you
It’ll also help if it happens again in the future!
Agreed
That's not how symbiosis works. If they are symbiont the ants cannot adapt to the loss. Each species is dependent on the other to survive.
There is two, as mentioned in another comment (1:09) so I reccomend sending one to the lab. Don't risk it, send one and be sure in what knowledge comes back
I saw that too
That mite gives me the creeps. Totally looks like a tick to me and makes my skin crawl. I say send the mite off to be tested. It's weird that there's only one, I doubt it is that beneficial.
As Spock would say...”the needs of the many out way the needs of a few!” I say send the single ant and mite to see and know. Better to know now if it is detrimental than when the nest is larger!
I don't think that removing one mite from the colony would have any major impact. If there are multiple in the colony the rest can compensate for the loss and if there is only one its impact on the colony is unlikely to be major enough for its removal to be noticeable.
Either way, there is little risk sending it off for ID and as such, I think you should do so.
Edit: As another commenter pointed out at 1:09 there are some frames where multiple facehuggers are visible. As there are at least 2 looking for more would clarify if this is a breeding pair or if there are already multiple. Either way removing at least one should be no big deal.
Your so right I saw two of the mites
AC: Doesn't get itchy looking at thousands of ants
Also AC: Gets itchy looking at ONE mite
Weeeelllll I actually agree with himmmmmm
ants arent gross tho
yeh mites are like cockroaches
@@xX_wiLLiam_Xx no they make *itchy* mites arent a ant they are a parasite
If this came in on the pregnant queen, there are probably plenty of very tiny others feeding in that colony. I suspect you can’t get rid of these mites without destroying the colony. Just send the ant and the big mite. Get it over with. You may need to destroy the whole colony to protect your other ants, and you’d better find out immediately.
I suggest taking some tweezers and be very careful not to harm the ant or mite, flip the mite so you can see the under half, then put the mite back.
Tweezers for mites? Do you ever attempted to grab even an ant whit twezzers? I suggest brush, its better for this task.
except you would have to do it for dozens if not hundreds if not thousands of mites if it had already spread
Or a cotton bud,that worked for my colony
@@kaimacdonald3006 They aren't talking about for removal purposes, but for identification purposes
@@callmecharlie4250 I see :L
My dude has better content than 95% of the b.s. on TV. Thank you @AntsCanada.
what "B.S"? Bullshit?
@@cedgamingph correct
Get that mite sent asap. There will always be more carpenter ants if it's bad, but if it's beneficial I don't think it would have a terribly negative effect on the colony, maybe a little pandemonium as it reorders some priorities
You know how to keep a colony going without facehuggers, so even if removing it is not the best choice, it’s better than leaving them alone, if they turned out to be dangerous to the colony. Take it out and get it identified.
First thought- "Damn bro, your ants got headcrabs?"
XD
Half Life irl!!!!111😳
Insert valve theme here
They say you can't learn anything from TV but this channel and others have taught me so much
Same
Same
This isn't tv
@@goddammitalana close enough
Xenomorph: yes my child
Burn them with fire 🔥 ohhhhhh
@@alexpayne1364 rip ants
HANS GETZE FLAMMENWERFER
HANZ!!!!!
Goddess Bless You, From Orbit
Been a while since I've seen Ron, I will have to see how he's been. I used to work for him in the acarology lab.
I'm afraid we don't have a lot of choices here. We NEED to send these ants in as fast as possible. At least one or two if you spot more. The time for action is now. I don't want to make another mistake.
I love how everyone else hears face hugger and thinks xenomorph, and I'm just here with a friendly floating green orb that can destroy planets and squeaks when literally hugging people and only says "jiggly".
Yes I like final space.
Green floating orb that says jiggly?
I know of a pink orb that says jiggly. Nothing else. (Jigglypuff).
What's Final Space?
@@andrix7777 tv show
@@andrix7777 I have no idea
I thought it was chokitty bit yes the final space reference is nice
I think the mite is Stratiolaelaps scimitus (formerly Hypoaspis miles) or soil mite. They are less than 1 mm (1/20 inch) in size, light brown in color. These mites are not parasitic but free-living predatory mites that feed on Nematoda, collembola, all stages of springtails, other mites, and gnat larvae. They disperse rapidly by phoresy (commensalism interaction/traveling between ants via the head). These mites are beneficial to your colony because they eat other mites. These mites are used to stop mite infestation in beehives.
Phoretic mites belong to the same class of animals as ticks, spiders and harvestmen - Arachnida. They are tiny, often orange coloured mites which are transported from one place to another on the bodies of various flying insects - especially carrion beetles and bumblebees.
The mite shouldn't have that big of an impact if removed. My suggestion is wait until an ant with the facehugger goes to an area where you can scoop it up. Put the ant into the fridge for a few minutes so the ant stops wriggling, then use some feather touch tweezers to gently prey the mite off, take the photos, then put them all back in!
"My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach".
That's not acting and drama that is what happened.
"What is a phoretic mite?"
Sorry, my laywer advised me to not speak about my ex-wife.
Lol
Oooooooohhhhh
Good one lol
Police? I'd like to report a murder...
😂😂
Nice one! 👍
Title: facehugger
Thumb: mite
me: *Headcrab.*
Same
This was a pretty interesting video. I hope you decide to wait until you see 2 or 3 mites at the same time. The History of isolation of the colony, the fact that the mite isn't reproducing at an alarming rate, and the fact that it doesn't seem to be harming the ants could definitely indicate some kind of beneficial or neutral relationship. Since the situation is contained and easily monitored, it would make sense to wait for another mite to appear in order to avoid doing irreversible damage inadvertently.
You need to film or photo the underside of the mites and send it off to be examined as soon as you can. It might help you decide what to before things might take a bad turn.
Bow
What
Bow
You should Take a picture of the bottom of the mite for now and send that to your friends to see if they can spot any immediate threat. If there is no threat immediately seeable to them then observe the mites for longer before making a decision.
Even if those mites might be beneficial to the ants, I doubt the entire colony depends on one mite.
Removing the mite and sending it over to a scientist is the best thing to do, because if it is a nasty mite, it would be **imperative** to remove it from such a young and vulnerable colony.
Myrmecologist here and those mites are definitely harmful, my best guess is they are caesarodispus mites and will be a huge problem later if left unchecked.
Noted on this. Thank you! Ant love forever!
@@AntsCanada I would send an ant and mite together, to the research team to study.
Learn as much as possible.
I would probably also try to separate anymore mites from the colony.
Yes, it's hard on the colony.
And.
If these mites are indeed as detrimental as is believed by the researchers, better to separate a few workers with mites now, than lose the whole colony.
I would probably relocate one ant at a time. After a demiting treatment, examine each and every mite, then locate into a new, sterile environment. May be time to examine your food chain, and see if it is open to contamination...
The five nations used to live together in harmony but then everything changed when the mites attacked
This is basically Alien meets A Bug's Life
It could be a new mite species! Would be kinda funny to find a never seen before mite species despite all your efforts to find a new ant species 😁
not when the mites are destroying your ant colony you spent time and money on :/
This is one picky situation if he remove it and it's needed then it damages the colony but it's parasitic then that's a big problem too because none of us knows how many are there nor how fast they reproduce
Wait...facehuggers.....
QUARANTINE ONE AND SEE IF SOMETHING BURSTS OUT OF IT!-
If you do...now you gotta deal with Xenomorph ants... *GOOD LUCK*
Lighters and matches will be the cure to the issue
@@superspicy8740 I say we nuke the site from orbit,just to be sure
@@thenatureboy1511 Its kinda like it, but in a miniature scale
@@gabrieloceano I wanna see a lil xenomorph, I'd keep him as a pet. Just don't let him out!
Are you in the "A Facebook group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony" group? Its funny and I've seen them post some of your videos, its a massive group and funny af 😂
I gotta find that group!
Yo. Been a long time subscriber, was one of the contributors to nameing the fire nation and their various habitats. Saw this I'm my recommended and instantly smiled. Your videos are so entertaining and relaxing, and I hope you and the various long time colonies of all ants, from fire to Carpenter stay safe, and good luck with the mites. I think you should wait and try to film the mite alone. Good luck!!
I caught a queen today for the first time i am soooo!!!! Excited
Phoretic Mites are mites that attach to the body of ants during a certain life stage and don’t eat blood when conditions are unfavorable.
My suggestion like RabelWulf is try to fish out the ant with the mite, and try to brush off the mite with cotton bud into the test tube and returning the ant back to colony. By letting those mites to multiply, you are probably dooming the colony without knowing it. Better be safe than sorry.
Well, the hobbyist term for these mites is going to now be FaceHuggers Mites.
How does it feel to know the videos you drop have such a huge impact on the ant-keeping hobby?
Phoretic mites are likely the most abundant arthropods found on carcases and corpses. ... They are usually found in a specialised transitional transport or dispersal stage, often moulting and transforming to adults shortly after arrival on a carcase or corpse.
Can you do an enclusure with a plant known to have symbiotic relationships with ants in nature? Like a myrmecophyla orchid or an ant plant.. it would be interesting to watch!!!
He has done something like this in the early days of the golden empire, a carnivorous plant ate a few ants and it produced some sweet liquid for the rest of the colony
I love watching these videos, and I was inspired to start my own Lasuis Neoniger colony. Thanks for being entertaining in these vids, and sorry about your ants having mites, it must be pretty scary.
I love this channel soooo much. You deserve funding and recognition regarding your incredible content. All of the AC videos are just brilliant. Cheers!
I think you should try to film the mits separately and send that too them. I think you should keep them isolated until you know what exactly they are too.
I feel as though it's wisest to wait and observe. Since I have also had a mite that likes to hide on the bottom of my ants faces however it was much smaller than yours. When I tried to get it identified I took the ant with the mite away from the colony. About 20 minutes drive from the colony the mite started to attack the ant for reasons still unknown. However I had a theory that mabye it had a special connection to the queen and or mabye the land the colony nested in.
Phoretic mites are mites that proceed to a certain life stage where they attach to the bodies of ants. These ants do feed on the blood of ants but eat fungus or decaying material are from the waste the ants produce.
Dang, I'm still watching 3 years back! Illnever catch up
Trust me, if you watch as often as I do and did with this channel when I first found it, you’ll catch up in no time! He also has three other channel!
"Why don't you freeze him!?" (Sorry, Alien movie reference! 🤭😅)
Lol
@AntsCanada i wrote this in the replies to your comment but feared you might not see it: at 1:11 I have spottet at least one more ant with a mite. So you definitely have more than 1 mite in there. Other ppl have backed me up on this. I would suggest to isolate one of the ants wit a mite and send them off to the US. One worker less will not kill the colony in a controlled environment like this. Out there they lose workers at this young stage, too, and survive.
Also, i would send the ant and the mite. Together. Maybe the scientists can figure out the impact the mite has on the ant, if it, in fact, is a new species. I can imagine that to be difficult to figure out without the ant...
I normally do not get grossed out watching videos like this but that mite did it for me. Not sure why.
Same😂
Me too it freaks me out!
Other Mites: Attached To The Back Of The Ants
The “Facehugger” Mite: Attached Itself To The Bottom Mouth So Can Get More Food.
The “Facehugger” Mite: It’s Big Brain Time.
But The Mouth Of The Mite Is Facing The Inside Of The Ant So It Wouldn't Eat
I think the idea of taking the mite out and getting it filmed would be a quick way to get some answer. If they find out from that hooray! If not then see if more pop up to take. My thought. :)
I do love how involved people are with this and the directions taken. Thank you.
Finally what more perfect timing, my subway just arrived and ants canada uploads a video. Nice...
Good for you i guess
Just finish it 5 mins ago, now im poopin
Ok
Everybody gangsta 'til an ant-sized Xenomorph hatches from the ants' bodies
Are you suggesting Alien: a bug's life
@@bennie1202 no, that would be cheesy bruh
Insect mite: "Parasitic and Bad"
Human Face mites: We pay rent by cleaning your face oil
AntsCanada, I think since this is such a young colony, you should be able to extract the ants and terminate the mites and have them removed.
*If this mites were an adult hand size mite stuck in our faces it would be horrific*
*Edit: I know that this colony will be alive again! Because your great and an expert*
AC: Keeps ants
ALSO AC: *panics over a maggot*
I felt weak while watching this I had this phobia where in I hate people touching my neck but the fact that that mite is at the ant’s neck it makes me feels like it is on my neck
Ugh, it was hard for me to watch this. Sorry but yuck!!
I had a phobia of ants and these video made me feel better about them
That's very brave of you. Congrats on actively watching videos of your fear. You're braver than most.
I read an article years ago that said that these mites are opportunistic mites. They live on the neck of the ant and they mimic how the queen ant strokes the underside of the ant’s neck so the ant will give up its nectar.
As someone else said in the comments, there is another mite at 1:09-1:12 on the ant at the left side of the screen. Also, if these mites were harming the ants, wouldn't the ants be trying to get rid of them themselves? Ants groom themselves and each other a lot, and the mites are in an easily accessible place.
I thought I saw that too
Shivers are going down by my spine ugh I know this colony will live cuz u great as heck
I think you should take a picture of the underside of the mite and return it to the colony in order to send the image to the specialist. Then go from there depending on whether she is able to identify it or not.
I got goosebumps 😖
Same
Me too
Oh No! The title alone makes me scared for the ants.
how is ur comment earlier than the vid
PP
its several seconds earlier than the vid
@@Your_Father1980 wow looks like my comment entered a time rift lol xD
@@RayAkuma lol
I would say: Isolate the effected ant from the others, cool it down (or an other/better method I don't know about) so it doesn't struggle too much and remove the mite for a photo shooting,
then place the mite back on the ant, and the ant back in the colony, until more is known.
Since the experts only need to see the underside of the mite to pin down its exact species.
I say that you should just try and film the bottom of the mite it is specialized enough that it could be important.
ants
Ants
Ur 1st
Pp
Pants
Im early
Separate the mite from the ant and get identifiers from the underside and hopefully the experts can get back to you with a tentative answer so that way if they are harmful maybe you won't have to wait too long for them to start causing devastation before removing the mites if necessary
I am very suspicious of these mites specifically *because* of where they locate; under the head makes it very hard for the ants to remove them, and facing inward means that the mite's mouths are placed right where the ant's head meets its gaster - aka, the joint in the exoskeleton where its easy to attack the ant.
If it did turn out to be a beneficial mite; we've got younger mites in with the ants still. With such a small, young colony, I don't think we can afford to wait. Send off the mite for testing,
I hope they can survive this😔
Me too
I would suggest that you pull the ant with the mite off to the side and observe how the ant acts with just the mite. Also observe if there are any other mites in the colony.
The fact that you call them call them “Facehuggers” l get EXTREMELY worried because there is a certain species that is very worrying.
I love that Ants Canada doesn’t bring politics into the videos, it honestly is really relaxing to just have a distraction from all the terrible things happening.
Phoeretic mites are mites that form a mutual relationship between ants when the condition becomes unfavourable to them they stick to ants for a shelter and in exchange they clear decay fungus and ant waste
AC Question of the Week: A phoretic mite is a mite that just lives on an ant without harming or benefiting it.
Benefiting
Also, I need help naming the colony of Yellow Meadow ants.
Please suggest a name for the Yellow Meadow ants in the comments. 🐜
@@trcrawlies3727 I think I do
@@trcrawlies3727 bronze?
Phoretic mites are mites in a certain life stage where they attache to an ants body when conditions are not favourable and leave without harm when conditions are right again
Damn. So it is facehuggers.... No good! Much love man- good luck. Love from Detroit Michigan.