Fire Ants Turn Into a Stinging Life Raft to Survive Floods | Deep Look
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- During hurricane season, as floodwater flows into their nest, red fire ants build a terrifying raft - out of their own interlocking bodies. If you wade into this ant raft nightmare, you’ll likely get a vicious bite and sting.
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During hurricane season, as residents of states like Florida, Texas, Louisiana and South Carolina escape rising waters, they sometimes have the added misfortune of wading into large groups of floating red fire ants that have assembled into a raft. These ants, whose scientific name is Solenopsis invicta, are also known as red imported fire ants or RIFA because they arrived in the United States from South America. There, they evolved on the margins of rivers that flood regularly, in an area that encompasses western Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia.
---+ What happens if a red fire ant bites you?
It’s more accurate to say that red fire ants bite and sting. They use their large mandibles to grab onto the skin and anchor themselves. Then, they dig their stinger in - sometimes multiple times - and inject venom. An itchy welt pops up at the site of the sting and later turns into a pus-filled blister called a pustule. A small number of people are allergic to red fire ant venom and can go into anaphylactic shock and die if they don’t receive prompt medical care.
---+ Why are red imported fire ants a problem?
In addition to their stings, red imported fire ants damage crops, hurt livestock and displace native ants.
---+ Find additional resources and a transcript on KQED Science:
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#solenopsisinvicta #antraft #fireants
Hi, I produced this episode of Deep Look. Many of you have asked whether the red fire ant queen makes it onto the raft. Linda Bui, professor of environmental studies at Louisiana State University, told me she often saw the queen riding on top of the raft when she studied how red fire ants make them.
And it turns out there’s no free ride on an ant raft. Even the queen has to work.
“Sometimes she carries bundles of eggs in her mouthparts,” Bui said.
Sadly, we didn’t see the queen when we filmed our episode.
I appreciate this, I was curious. I assumed she'd be their priority though lol
3:05 Wait, aren't the winged ants queens? (I saw at least 3 in there)
Hi Paul Sde. I produced this episode of Deep Look. Thank you for your question. Those winged ants aren't queens. They're male and female sexual ants, known as alates. (Male alates, also called drones, are darker and have smaller heads than female alates). Sexual alates fly out of the nest a few times a year and mate. "Mating flights take place on a warm day after heavy rains," says Walter Tschinkel, who has studied red fire ants at Florida State University. Once one of the female alates has mated, then she drops her wings and starts a colony, of which she is the queen. Thanks for watching! -Gabriela
@@gabrielaquiros1966 Thank you for the info and for the cool video! :)
Thank you @Gabriela for clearing this up. Now i won't have to sometimes worry about this sleepless.
Respect for the person who got stung by ants to make this video
That person is probably Coyote Peterson
I've been bitten by a few fire ants on our 300-acre family Ranch just S of DFW Metroplex.
It feels like someone lit a wooden match and put it into your foot.
Thus, the name?
Most likely. 🤔
Ikr ahahah
I have scars on my feet from when they bit us as kids. (Small scars). My younger brother dropped a soda can and left it on the floor by our beds... -_-
@@TragoudistrosMPH ooooh man, I wouldn't wish that on anyone
The person took those stings like a champ
Must be really itchy!
And
Hello Beto viewer :)
can believe i would found you here also😂
I feel like listening to this videos commentary and music overlay was worse than being stung by fire ants.
waw you're here as well
This is the weirdest video I have seen you on
Vicious creatures, but the ingenuity of ants never fails to impress me. I doubt a group of humans could work together so efficiently in a sudden high-pressure situation like that.
When you're running on 100% instincts, 0% cognition, it's easy to do things in a snap without thinking or questioning it.
Next time there is flooding humans should take their young and make a raft?
@@SongbirdOfficial no...
@@PigeonHoledByYT Thats a genius idea
@@SongbirdOfficial 100% instincts = 100% derp = quick drown
As an ant keeper, experience hundreds of colony of variety of species. Fire ant in my country (Solenopsis Giminata) , is the most fierce, successful and hardest one to keep. They always find their own solution, what an invasive creature!
They are invasive, almost as good as humans (Homo Sapiens)!
Ouch, the person who was the test subject. I can feel the pain
Imagine drowning in flood, when trying to go up surface for air and accidentally gulp down this ball of fire ants.
Mmm spicy protein
All those ants get to experience the Nine Circles of Dante's Intestines
@@smexijebus They'll still your mouth first though.
Imagine getting stung by thousands of ants while drowning.
Another phobia invented
Don't feel bad for the ants sicking their heads into water, because their respiratory system is in their abdomen and thorax. :)
Fair.
Props to the guy who sacrificed his hand for demonstration
I never knew that they can sting I always thought that they just bite, thanks for the info Deeplook.
No problem 👍
Another interesting behaviour of ants is how they carry feathers to decorate their nests. Would love a video explaining this behaviour's evolutionary sense
Yes!
Absolutely fascinating. I always wondered how fire ants turned their colonies into living rafts. Fantastic video, honestly one of my favorites!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
How did u already know this fact, enough to wonder how. But not enough to know how?
Did some random guy passing you on the street say "fire ants turn their colonies into living rafts..."; walked off. And u have just been wondering how ever since?
@@mattstyles2498 Nah, it was Ant Man 😂
@@mattstyles2498 lolol
Don't be so rude dude 😂😂
Maybe they saw some fire ants floating on water like that and wondered how or why they're doing that 💁🏽♀️
@@blueberry_borb well. I'll be dammed. You're right.
Imagine using your own babies or secrete substances from our bodies to survive a flood. How Wierd would it be for humans if we did that too?
I'm guessing it would be a lot more normal if human babies had the same properties as ant babies, and if our secretions had the same properties as ant secretions.
Definitely nowhere near as efd as jheeting / 💨ing the most unfortunate unconsenting souls into existence thru the _ can’t / tunneIz of doom / reehrareas...
...life’s an universal error - a vicious cycle where one is ferced into a pointIs morteI worId that is uncertain and unsafe and where payn / fear / dth etc exist without one’s consent and against one’s will...
...especially hum’ns and other
mammaIz
which are bdg in the most sacriIegieus ways...
bdg = breeding
On one hand it's a fire ant landmine, but on the other, they're tiny ant pilgrims!
The formic acid in the fire ants where I live produces a very distinct smell, one you'll not forget if every stung by one. They love moist soil, and being a pipe fitter by trade I was constantly fixing water leaks for my city. I've had the pleasure to meet these lovely little guys on more occasions than I care to remember! LoL
Now I can smell them the moment they take up residence in my yard. Being in the desert I've never seen them in water like this but I've definitely seen them swarm on land. Really efficient at what they do, what with carrying their young and any food stuffs, always on the lookout for the next meal, even if they bite into more than they can chew!
What does formic acid smell like? Thanks for sharing.
@@KQEDDeepLook It's very distinct, but one I can't compare to anything else. A really bad chemical smell is really the only way I know how to explain it. I've just had the pleasure of getting covered in them on numerous occasions, but when a city block is out of water you can't wait around on pest control sooo the work goes on.
To be honest I have pointed the smell out to people. It wasn't until I grabbed an ant and squished it in my fingers so they could smells it that they finally put the smell and ant together.
I don't know why but the ants being "ready to set sail" is my favourite concept on the planet. Just the phrasing. Perfect.
Someone needs to write a sci-fi novel with this premise....
@@KQEDDeepLookIt would probably be a sci fi horror
You've done it again! What a great series
More to come Kevin!
On the plus side, that's the whole nest in one spot. That's why I always keep a propane torch in my flood survival kit
Fellow Microbio researcher from Texas here. To the amazing, dedicated researchers putting their bodies on the line for STEM education:
What are you DOING?!
It is indeed a noble cause...
But _FIRE ANTS?!_
(I jest. I love the work you do even when every Texan bone in my body is screaming at you.)
FOR SCIENCE! ;->
“If you get too close, You will regret it.”
*casually put your whole hand on it*
The fire ant boat seems pretty safe for some reason.
Safe for them
Something to look forward to, they do more damage that lasts longer as you get older. Three bites form one ant on my back caused the glands under my arms to swell, as well as a placemat sized patch on my back, lasted three or four days. Used to get stung often, and up until I was about 50 they only made a tiny whelps like in the video.
Eek, sandspar, sounds like you developed a serious allergic reaction. That happens with poison oak here in our region (ask me how I know).
Does Fire Ants rafts have to face Pirate Fire Ants rafts in their world? I want to see a sea battle between 2 opposing armada of Fire Ants.
Great video, Deep Look. Thank you so much, i learned a lot. [DiowE]
Colonies do fight each other very often on dry land, I don't know about a Marine fight tho. Would be cool to film that forsure.
That’s cool how they rotate to get a turn to breathe. I love when eusocial animals do stuff like this it just makes them feel like one huge organism it’s amazing.
We have invasive fire ants in Australia and they are a real problem. Now we have invasive crazy ants spreading too. We have so many invasive animals here it’s a mess
So, would a fire ant raft collapse if there's emulsifier (like detergent) in the water, thus reducing surface tension of H2O to near zero?
Hi Austin Freyrikr W. I produced this episode of Deep Look. Yes, dropping some dishwasher soap in the water would disrupt the surface tension and cause the ant raft to fall apart. Thanks for watching! -Gabriela
Imagine being in a kayak and crashing into one of these unknowingly until you just star getting stung all over and than looking around seeing millions of ants in your boat. What are you gonna do lol.
Ants are the most interesting and terrifying in the insect's world.
Props to the person who got stung.
And also a good episode as always
Thanks Mohammed!
Man, I love your music! The "bomp-bomp-bomps" and "bloongie-bloongie-bloongs" and "clickety-clicks" of the various instruments. I would give my eye teeth to watch the orchestra at work!
Our music is composed by Seth Samuel, here's a video about how he makes our music: th-cam.com/video/as5vqInrwoA/w-d-xo.html
@@KQEDDeepLook - Thanks a million! That was like a tall strawberry milkshake on a sweltering Summer day!
My sister fell off a tree into a fire ant colony. It was TERRIBLE!
I live in southern Texas where WE have always known and had a distant respect for these tiny red devils.
Although we have been bitten hundreds and hundred of times and knew about those massive jaws.
I NEVER KNEW they had "Stingers" as well! A mosquito, a bee. One bites one stings and that's it.
These BITE And STING, Ouch.
Get you an ant that does both
Narrator: They put them on the bottom.
Music: What?!
All Deep Look episodes have original music, composed by Seth Samuel!
"By joining their bodies together to form a giant raft, the fire ants were able to ferry the queen from the mound just as the nest filled with water. Their perils are not over, but they have shown great resilience and an ability to survive in this harsh environment. Wherever they land, the creatures of the swamp will quickly come to know the might of the fire ants."
Fun fact:Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis, which includes over 200 species. Solenopsis are stinging ants, and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many of the names shared by this genus are often used interchangeably to refer to other species of ant, such as the term red ant, mostly because of their similar coloration despite not being in the genus Solenopsis. Both Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus are common examples of non-Solenopsis ants being termed red ants.[2]
If you want to see what else fire ants can do get one of those food dishes for animals that have the water moat around them and set that up somewhere near a fire ant nest. Watch how they will build a bridge across the moat and then their workers will run back and forth across their fellow workers bodies to get it the food. They're not just raft builders, they're bridge builders.
Great observation - thanks for sharing.
What happens to the queen though?? Does she just continue birthing while they float??🤔
She comes along on the raft as well. Good question as to whether she continues birthing.
Love the idea of “ant pirates” setting sail and setting up shop in a new location, leaving a path of destruction
Witnessed this phenomenon in my backyard last year and have been trying to find a video explaining it since
What happened to the ants? Did they recolonize your backyard?
@@KQEDDeepLook the ants made rafts just like seen in your video. I was holding a waterhose on the opening of their ant pile. They eventually started floating out and a few grabbed ahold of multiple blades of grass to become stationary and the ants that continued to come out of nest would grab onto the pilesthat were being created. They grew slowly. Once most of them were evacuated out of the nest they were mostly in one or two clusters. I had a shovel and I could pick the entire pile up with the handle. They latched onto each other like stretchy velcro.
A fire ant paddles away from the scene of the crime.
Question.
Where does the Queen fit in the raft? Does she still lay eggs or is that slowed or postponed during the raft stage?
I saw the ant with wings in the raft that must be the next queen or drone if in case the old queen dead .
Now I'm even more terrified... 😨
It's interesting how ants actually have wings. It's just that it remains dormant but becomes active when the newborn ant is either a drone or a queen. But really all ants have the capacity to grow wings in their dna. And so you can see that their ancestors must have been like bees until eventually the workers had no need for wings anymore so they evolved for their wing genes to become dormant for the workers.
Fascinant, incroyable et horrifique à la fois. Leur architecture donne des vertiges. Heureusement qu'elles sont minuscules !
You didn't mention the most nightmarish part! ...what happens if you or the boat you're in literally bumps into one of these rafts. I've heard horror stories. 😳
Hats off to the soundtrack composer for creating such a quirky, hilarious and picturesque score. 😆
I seen in a bucket of water ants using dead bodies from other ant and bugs to make a life raft.
i got stung by one of these when i was younger, it hurt so much i cried all the way home
The fact that they can be on this raft for TWO weeks is insane! Nature does fine a way!! Super cool stuff!
i want someone to bite me like that 😂
Fantastic video as always! Your footage is always so detailed and thorough!
Glad you enjoyed it!
2:48 😱😰 Absolutely NO to a fire ant pile that large! Anyways, the fact that the ants know to do this and rotate turns of who is on top is incredibly intelligent! They’re kind of amazing! I did know that sugar ants will ball together if they are drowning so that they float but I didn’t know it was this complicated for fire ants. Great video!
Newly adult ant:so whats my job to do
Expert ant: *B E A B O A T*
I'm speechless
I thought I know ants but now I realize they're way more complicated than what I thought...
waay more complicated.
WAIT WAIT WAIT A MINUTE..A RAFT YALL.. 😂 😂 i thought i seen it all, but yet again. Keep up with these amazing videos. now i have to watch out for fire 🐜 just chillin in water 😂. Everyone please stay safe and blessed much love from San Antonio. Can't wait for next lesson on Deep Look
"If you get too close, you'll regret it"
Proceeded to get close, too close.
The way ants ended was More realistic
3:20 I just assumed they would start cannibalizing if they got hungry.
I love deep look so much!!!❤❤❤
Thank you JAKI, we love making these videos.
@@KQEDDeepLook looking forward for more ❤❤❤
I have stepped on more than one fire ant nests back when i was a kid and boy were they painful
Huh, well then! Never knew that fire ants have stingers! I always thought that they just bite to inject venom but now I learned a new thing! :D
Always here for deep look
My whole life realizing fire ant stings too thats why its little bit itchy and i thought they do that to grip tight
I think if I was a fire ant I wouldn’t mind missing the boat/raft if I had to lock legs for 2 weeks under water.
makes you wonder: what's stopping them from forming a literal ant man? luckily they're not too imaginative... yet.
Starts raining:
Fire Ants: alright time to make an ant raft
Me, with a small drop of soap:
😈
These ants evacuated better than the people at south Florida during hurricane IAN 👀
moment of silence for the deep look intern
So much respect for the person who got stung by those ants
Unstoppable.
In Philippines, they scarred my legs & feet since childhood. Painful & itchy. Nightmare.
fire ants using their babies as a floating raft..
humans : hmm.. interesting.. maybe we could try that 🤔
One time in kindergarten I stuck my hand in a fire ant pile and I only started to get them off when they started biting
One time I found a fire ant on the bottom of my toe biting me. It was just one ant, so I felt the burning sensation. It wasn’t too bad though.
I've encountered one of these rafts in a giant puddle near my local park and when I saw it I almost fainted, its a sight to look at but once you know they are ants, its a different story
I learned alot thx!
You are most welcome.
As a young boy I lived in Louisiana. Was well aware of these nasty little critters. We had some white powder to put on their nests in our lawn.
I mean hey. They have the rest of the world to make a nest. Get off my property!
On normal days they're fire ants, when flood come, they turn into water ants 🤣🤣🤣
Who had to get stung for the making of this video? 😭 I give you all of my respect
Fire ants: huh! No one can stop us not even water!
Me who likes playing fire:
When I was a child, one of these ants bit me when I was touching a tree. 😅
Fire ants hurt, I hate them… 😢
I love this channel
I really tried to love and care about all animals and creatures but when I was doing a army field training exercise at night and when you were bounding up to an objective and you dive to the ground for cover and land in a fire ant nest, it Engenders a deep and burning hatred for these terrible creatures. I think everyone in the army has an equal hate for these.
Bad shot, let us repeat it one more time. I wonder how the guy reacted once he heard that!!
so we call it fire ants for a reason. their spirit lit!
This is a throwback because that Mexican jumping bean video is at least +2years old
Floods are a great time to get rid of ant populations plaguing you. Just spray the raft with some soap and the raft loses the ability to hold air bubbles and they sink and drown. Just make sure you keep your distance. They spread really fast trying to grab something to stay afloat including your leg.
I was gonna suggest lighting it on fire but yours is great too
This video reminds me of the invasive Yellow Crazy Ant that is threatening to completely overwhelm the Daintree Rainforest here in Australia.
Incredible survivalists ants are.
Aw the ants locking legs is kinda cute
No human was hurt on the making of this video.
I legitimately cannot believe they have a stinger. I thought they sent venom through their fangs, sorta like a snake. Still do
Hey Deep Look it's always so thrilling to see a new video😃!! How about a video about the Western fence lizard?!😃
We've thought about it, Kim, specifically about their role in the lyme disease life cycle.
And.... this is why I don't watch YT vids in the bath anymore.
Them: “They put them at the bottom”
the music: O_O
So nobody is going to talk abt the guy giving up his arm to be stung by a fire ant while holding still for the camera???? :|
Anyways great and interesting vid as always!
That's what I call teamwork
I liked the old Voice artist anchoring much better 🥺
You really didn’t need to comment this. There have been several changes to the narrators on Deep Look. They’re all very good and try very hard.
@@astrea4020 I will comment and its not good fr
they really know what it means to work together... just amazing
ants must have really good communication skills
0:57 I don't have to imagine, I already did it. It was a painful lesson.
Sorry to hear that, Rick James!
Yaaaassss! NEW DEEP LOOK!!! ❤