Thanks for all the kind comments. We initially shot it in stereo 3D. Keeping both cameras in perfect focus at that macro level is exceedingly difficult. My brilliant brother was the cinematographer. Fun fact, the entire flooding close up scene was shot in a kiddie pool, bottom cut out, sunk into the ground around a large fire ant mound. We coated the sides with baby powder so they couldn't climb out, then slowly flooded it with a hose. You can see the kiddie pool in the yard at 2:41. The extreme close ups of the fire ants finding safety and climbing out of the water was shot in a 5 gallon bucket painted black on the inside. The extreme closeup photos were shot at the University of Georgia using a special microscope and software that could compile a hundred photos in shallow focus into one razor sharp photo. Thank you UGA. If you like this film, check out some of our others: The Wild Pacific, Shark Cinema Science, Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know it, Sea Lion Rescue, Cryptopia, and the latest... Fortitude (on various platforms but not TH-cam yet)
Great vid, and as a former Tallahassee homeowner, I can confirm: they rule any territory they inhabit. Got stung many times while working in the yard. The thought of kayaking through flood waters and having a fire ant mass swarm your boat is pure nightmare fuel. As a biologist, one minor science quibble: at one point you refer to the ant as an ancestor of the wasp... in point of fact, ants and bees are more derived (more recent in the evolutionary sense) than wasps. So while there are recent wasp lineages, "wasps" (as that term is commonly used, i.e., a large paraphyletic group of multiple families, infraorders, etc.), predate the ants... not the other way around. Fire ants may, in fact, be "peak wasp." ;) Seriously though, great video.
I live in southwest Louisiana and have fought fire ants all my life, but a few years ago another ant showed up. They are much smaller than the fire ant and move very fast. We call them crazy ants. They don’t bite and jump off if you get them on you. After a few years the fire ants have literally disappeared from our yard. Also termites have disappeared. Some scientist needs to study these little ants
If you can get close up photos or better yet capture some and send to a state university they should be able to ID the ants. I had an ant infestation and someone told me to ask the state university, I got good photos and emailed them and about a week later they answered and told me the exact species, it enabled me to buy the right kind of baits to get rid of them.
That's happened here in the Southern California desert. I'm fine with the tiny "crazy" ants. They rampage for food once a year, in the early summer. I keep most of 'em out of the house. After the annual feast, they disappear 'til next year.
There is a small ant from Argentina which likes to chew through electrical wires. Do they ever seem attracted to electrical fields/devices/lines? It could be a possibility...
Had a fire ant problem for years. Couldn't stand in one spot, or they get you. They seem to wait and bite all at the same time. Making their attack more effective. No more. I started taking care of free-range chickens, and no more fire ants. Seems the chickens think they're tasty.
How do not overran the swarms of fire ants the chickens? Or the chickens eat the members of the colony when to colony is yet relative small those ending it's grow and finally it at all?
Why not? It's important to have an open mind. As a man, I will watch videos that are intended for women, such as hair, makeup and beauty. It's not that I intend to go into those industries, it's that sometimes it's interesting.
The best way to control the fire ant is mix lemon and lime extract and spray on the mound about 15 minutes before sundown. They can't dry off in the sun and it disolves the ecto skeleton.
yep! and Lavender Oil will keep them away from your house foundation too!(although fire ants do LOVE eating termites! ) Spray lavender oil in your attic around the eaves of the roof to keep them termites away too!
Most definitely doesn't dissolve exoskeleton 🤦♂️what it does do is, ant use pheromones to know where they are going, if another ant is from their colony and where food is located, citrus destroys the pheromone trail. It won't dissolve the exoskeleton of any invertebrate.
A very long time ago I read a book on Ants. The author at the end stated “If Ants were the size of a medium size dog, they would rule the earth”. I believe this
They already do. All the ants presently alive outweigh all the people. There are over 20,000 ant species and they have been around for over 100,000,000 years.
Personally I think if they were just ten times there size it would be enough. I got bit hundreds of times in basic training. If they were bigger I would have been in trouble
dont worry, you didnt !.. fire ants are actually a type of wingless wasp ..not in fact an ant .. the documentary hasnt mentioned that so far ....a little bit like how peanuts arent nuts .. they are actually peas (as more than one seed in the pod ..if i remember correctly)..
Near the beginning, he said "...mounds can reach 18" tall..." When I lived in Evans, GA, I saw a mound that was easily 5 feet tall, and backed up by another one 4 feet tall, about 50 feet away... A far cry from 18"...
Very true I lived in South Georgia and I was a 6 year old kid. I stuck a stick in the nest about 3 feet high. Anyway they got all over me I had to go to the hospital.I had a allergic reaction
Out of all the documentaries about ants this has been the most interesting and informative one I’ve seen thus far, this video was well put together and full of great information.
Great Documentary. I grew up in South Louisiana and now live in South Texas. Fire Ants are a constant, almost daily consideration. It's always good to hear that nature can help with nature if we help a little and then get out of the way.
Really happy they aren't any larger. In Asia, we have large red ants. The bite/sting is not so fierce, but they also squirt ammonia, and can time their attack so aggressively, and in such numbers they can rapidly send you packing.
Living with fire ants in SE Queensland Australia, i was fascinated with this doco. Our government uses soya oil plus a sterilant on crushed corn. We shake it and hope that in 6 weeks there is one nest less
Hey, @danm! Back in in 1962 my U.S. Navy dad was given a choice to move our family from Japan to Australia or Washington D.C. Sadly, I think Washington was imposed on him by the powers that wuz. There's a hole in my heart that should have been filled with Australia!
@danmckeown2081 It's hard to fight a creature that's been around long before humans ever existed. They have have the upper hand from having being here and evolving for over 300 million years. The largest dragonfly fossil had a wing span of over 12 inches. Imagine that puppy sitting your lap. It was that big because there was more oxygen in the air then than there is today. It allowed to grow that big. Today they are much smaller. Evolution at work. Darwin was a genius. 👍
A single fire ant bite on my big toe almost killed me. I had no idea I was severely allergic. Within 15 minutes I couldn’t breathe and it felt like my internal organs were cramping up. Now these little shts terrify me. The scariest critter on earth.
The section about the phorid flies (natural enemy of the fire ants) is fascinating. They remind me of fruit flies. Maybe fruit flies are laying maggots in human brains. That's why humans are losing their marbles. Ha! Thank you! A really great documantary!
I have read that the food we eat alters our behavior patterns. That is probably why we have weirdos all around us. So, be careful when you meet me...Hehe.
Thank you for spelling out the word "phorid." I was not familiar with the term . . . and accordingly I searched these "Comments" hoping someone would so do. The CC kept indicating that the word in question was "forward." This is a most interesting documentary; complete with excellent production values!
You must not have seen many documentaries. Try watching the BBC Natural History's documentaries. They are some of the best documentaries in the world. They take years to film.
We have them here in Hawaii. Also have the tiny fire ant. A smaller, seemingly more vicious variety , that seems harder to eradicate.Most live in trees and are so tiny they are carried in wind, and rain, making their spread faster. Been treating with many methods for the last ten years, and can only keep them at bay. Have never been able to completely eradicate them!
corn starch poured into a kicked mound will kill that mound. a box of corn starch will treat a whole yard. bakeing soda works too, anything they can take to the queen and she eats and then the thing she eats expands and makes her explode killing the whole colony of ants, smaller ants need corn powder or baking powder . you can thank me later. THE LAST WORD
I'm Brazilian, livin in the Amazonia region and I would like to say this infernal insect is found here for every where. I have tried put an end in it in my little farm but without sucess.
We have them now in most places throughout Australia and we also have the EVEN Smaller Crazy Red Ant or Crazy Fire Ant that is even more dangerous to children , the elderly and to pets. Best of luck for to you against the Ant Army
When I was at FT Benning GA we were doing a road march at like 4am. When we take a break we lay down in the prone position with our rifles pointed outward, and I laid down on a fire ant mound. I had so many bites they made me get in the truck in case I had an allergic reaction. I learn a hard lesson that day.
Fire Ants also found in Cambodia. I used to stepped on the mount and got attacked when I was young. The horrible burning sensation and itchiness is no joke. Unsure how and when they got there but it has been there for a while now.
Pinellas county for the last five years. I prefer the Pacific Northwest. I was weed wracking. I felt the debris hitting my shins. I stopped and still felt the debris hitting my legs. 34 bites/stings. Intense stinging sensation went away pretty quickly. Itched for a week. I don't stand still when outside. 😢
From the North the first thing you hit going down to SoCal is dry sand & ants, from small black sugar ants to fire ants that bit me all over my body when I was 3. We went to some friends house to visit. The ants were in the crack of the curb between the yard & gutter at street. That was the worst pain I have ever felt. I sat there & screamed momma ran & scooped me up, stood me up brushed off as many ash she could. Took off my clothes on the front porch and the lady of the house had a bathtub full of cool tepid water. They put me in and started on my hair the lady as mom was checking my whole butt crack front to back.Weird. But glad she always loved us so much. This was before she got disabled for life. Before she ever got to try having a job. All she did, alot, was having her family as she called it. Said she had to get it growing & wanted to have a boy for your father.
As a schoolchild, I was required to read "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson, a short story from the December 1938 Esquire. It was so scary that I still remember it in my sixties, particularly the scenes where wave-after-wave of ants relentlessly attacked a human compound, even crossing moats of burning oil on the carcasses of their dead confrères.
As someone who's studied ants as a hobby for the past several years, I learned a great deal from this documentary. I knew about them creating the rafts, but I have no idea but they made it that flexible nor did I know about them being able to sense the weight of the raft and when to reposition themselves to compensate. That thing about their antennas being so sensitive that a tea spoon pheromones could span a Trail over 100 million miles was truly astonishing. I also had no idea they were attracted to the electronics like that. I wonder if the fact that their antennas is so sensitive that there's something about the electricity that mimics something else that attracts them to it. God's creations never cease to amaze me and to add to His glory. I also think they did an excellent job with the musical score. Documentaries like these in the fact that I do a podcast of the only reason I'm still on TH-cam. Very well done.
I live in the brazilian savana region and the fire ants are probably native here. When I was young they were endemic in any lawn, and so were a small species of termites. But it`s been a long time, maybe decades since I`ve seen any. Something seems to have killed them of. Sure, there`s a good side to it, but it`s also scary - what`s happened to those little critters? Just like the city sparrows, many small animals were everywhere and now they`re gone or hard to see.
That’s interesting.🤔. That’s something for us all to think about. I’m in the southern part of North Carolina, USA.., 59yr Native American woman and we didn’t have fire ants when I was growing up. I moved away from the area for over 35yrs, came back and here they are.
Cara agora você me fez pensar e isso é verdade, antigamente o jardim de casa era cheio delas, era comum levar picadas mas ultimamente não vi mais nenhuma dessas formigas
I live in Australia fire ants are an increasing problem here fortunately authorities are at last getting serious about eradication. Great doco.thankyou.😮
@@bertanelson8062 i have heard the efforts here in australia have been far more effective than the states. here in aus fire ants are spreading 4km per year while in the US its 40km and in china its 80 km
Fire Ants are native to South Americas. In their native land Fire Ants are predated upon by a small fly. The fly predates ONLY Fire Ants. The fly lays an egg near the Fire Ants head and a small maggot crawls into the Fire Ants head. The maggot grows and eventually kill the fire ant. Unfortunately breeding enough flies to control the ants is very difficult.
Central Texas here. Those guys used to be HORRIBLE here. I believe that a large population uptick of Red Harvester Ants is reducing the fire ant population here. The Red Harvester ants are much larger and can sting, but they are not nearly as aggressive as fire ants. I let the "red ants" - as we call them - just do their thing and continue to poison fire ant colonies every chance I get. You might be surprised how quickly one can remove one's pants when unwittingly standing too close to a fire and mound. 😂
In the 70's, whenever you walked into a field, or the woods, you could pretty much guarantee that you'd get either chiggers, ticks, or fleas. Now, that just isn't the case. My friends and i have speculated that, as much of a pain as fire ants are - maybe they have made the fields and woods a lot more pleasant to walk through.
Heard that. Here in Ky I was walking through and was cussing myself for not having big spray and never got a tick. Couldn’t believe it. We don’t have that many fire ants though.
A fascinating and well presented documentary on this remarkable insect! I loved the mixture of field study, laboratory investigation, and the charming inclusion of interested young children in the garden - well done! 😊
so this is what people who dont live in the real world do with other peoples money (grant research). With so many other more useful topics to address, like homeless, like war, like governmental corruption and wasteful spending, proving or disproving climate change, addressing africa's famine problem, or taking a stance on Covid one way or the other, abortion rights, one way or the other. Ants is the topic of choice. Sounds alittle detached from reality to spend so much money and time and effort on something so trivial. But again, this is what people do who dont live in the reality of their times, and do it with other peoples money
@@joecausey8508 what kind of silly assumption is that. How do you even connect my statement with yours. Than again you said youre from alabama. bana-neerneerneer
@@jujupedals3430 If you lived in an area inhabited by fire ants you'd think it was a more serious problem than you let on. One can't enjoy themselves while in the yard for watching for and worrying about fire ants getting on you.
did you somehow miss the numerous real world, behavioral insights and robotics applications derived from studying fire ants...maybe you should watch this AMAZING documentary again, to its end,@@jujupedals3430
As some of my jobs have me working out doors in trees and peoples yards I've experienced these tenacious ants personally. Great documentary here thanks for the upload.
You deserve many awards for this documentary. Thank you for your skill, talent, imagination and generosity. From the UK, where we dont (yet) have these, thank goodness.
the "Borg" of nature...fascinating (and disturbing)...completely understandable why these are such a problem in your yard (and it's no fun getting stung by them)...
Exactly my line of thought. The interactions and organisations based on chemical communication, all thats left is an elcteic impulse to interpret the circuits they continuous make.
@@HomelessOnlinebasically your neurons send signals to each other with electrical signals and this is how we do everything, they operate in a similar way but bye using pheromones and act as one thing
I went to the patretta center last January and went down their bullet slide. I had just bought new swimming trunks which were VERY slick. When I made it to the bottom of the slide the life guard told me that it was the fastest he had seen anyone go. he said my time was 7.43 seconds which was the second fastest time on record. My cousin Lucas told me that he didn't believe me though which was really frustrating because I know he was just jealous.
Where I live and hunt in central NC near the sandhills fire ants are everywhere. Some years back during turkey season I was moving around calling and I moved out to the big powerline cut. In the distance I saw large redish rocks on the powerline cut. I didn't remember that part of the landscape. i got near and realized these rocks the size of a small boulder were actually fire ant hills. Waist high...
I had a friend who was part of that study to use flies to control the ants. He was very smart but he died in a bus accident. AFAIK, the fire ants come from Brazil. We are no that allergic to them, though. I hope the biological control project works!
I got attacked by fire ants in Texas. I felt a bite on my elbow and looked down and couldn't see my legs! That first bite was the signal for thousands of them to bite all at once. They have venom and acid. Their heads separated from their bodies as I tried to brush them off, and they kept biting me! I was standing on their nest after a rain storm. Horrifying.
I stayed at an Airbnb in Arizona a giant fire ant colony newrby. Everytime I went outside on the porch id see multiple fire ants scouting. I started leaving them food to watch their behavior. But then I realized how aggressive they are. Everytime I went outside they’d find a way to climb my leg. Got bit on the foot twice. Those things are manic as hell. If u alert one watch it freak out and bite anything it can. Creepy animals
Big congratulations to Sanford Porter for his research and work breeding the phorid flies. The 3 million phorid flies bred in the lab yearly is a huge step forward. Amazing work Sanford, the hammer is coming down on the fire ants thanks to you.
A couple of years ago, at age 65, outrageous life circumstances left me homeless and penniless with no possessions or ID in Southern California's high desert. At first I thought that meth-heads and other lost souls who wander the brush looking for someone to victimize were my biggest threat. Little did I know that fire ants would instill in me such a profound perspective! THANK YOU, FIRE ANTS for reminding me that there are more powerful entities than than we pathetic humans!
@@livehabesha4642 This bizarre journey has taken me through things I couldn't have imagined, even 17 days in PRISON! I took me a while to see the hand of Allah guiding me. I'm being prepared for a purpose.
Best of fortune to you, man. Might want to reconsider that "pathetic human" viewpoint, though...we are matter created by the universe that is arranged so complexly that it is able to contemplate itself. Not very pathetic, imo.
"pathetic humans" - what planet are you living on. The ability to travel the skies, ability to transmit data and enormous speeds to people around the world, ability to communicate with anyone in the world, audio, visual, ability to speed across the planet at over 200 MPH, ability to create movies and songs as we have, ability to form complex governments and even create weaponry that could destroy the entire world 100s of times over. How are humans pathetic when compared to a scavenger insect that any human could destroy by the millions in a day? Interesting choice of words
I live in Middle Tennessee where we were always told that fire ants would never make it this far north. Several years ago, I was pumping gas locally and noticed an unusually large ant mound nearby. Yep... it was fire ants; they did make it this far, and beyond.
I live in warren county tennessee. I've had them on my farm now for about ten years. But I have a buddy that lived in the blues Hill area. He had an infestation in the 80s. They wasn't supposed to be here then but they were.
Same here in central NC. I noticed large mounds in my neighbors yard did some investigating.. seems none were around here just 2 years ago. Just today I found 2 large mounts about 400 ft away from my neighbors yard.p I have purchased some white powder from Lowes' that you sprinkle on top of the mound, and it wipes out the entire mound in just a few hours.
In Florida some friends recommended diatomaceous earth instead of constant poisoning, regular spraying around the house, that smelled horrible for days. When building a house, the earth is poisoned under the foundation also. The diatomaceous earth is safe to use around house pets. When using it is good to wear gloves and a respirator/mask.
I was playing with a fire ant hill as a kid , I was flanked by a couple they got me on the foot . Never forgot that . A soldier during "war games" to evade "enemy team" dove into the bush to avoid being "captured " . Landed in a fire ant hill and had to lay still until " enemy patrol " passed. Bit him real bad...I don't know how he did it but he was out for a while . Very serious actually .
44:08 She really obviously loves her job. If I had to guess her thoughts, I'd say: "That's what I studied Biology for?!" 46:28 Thinking we're the dominant species and not just a battleground for bacteria and fungi waging their ageless war... how adorable humanocentric ;) Overall -- great videos, thanks lots!
Putting used or unused coffee grounds on and around their holes or mounds keeps them at bay. While camping in Florida I used this method and was astonished when I saw no ants on the ground or on the mounds. The acidity in the coffee is something they don’t like. Thanks for the video
In hawaii, we have LFA (little fire ant) they are the size of a width of a penny. They don't grip well, and if you are under a tree and the wind blows, it rains down ants...Joy... Anyway, we use all kinds of baits to get rid of them. Some work then some don't because the ants get wise to the baits. I wonder if those flies would work on LFA? Would be nice to get rid of them or find a predator that would.
A dream that Ants were being born from inside of me brought me here. I knew nothing about ants, but the dream revealed exactly what was shown here. Amazing!
It's peanuts compared to how much food is wasted in USA. "$444 billion worth of food annually.". They probably keep other pest under control and is benifitals. "Red imported fire ants are considered beneficial insects in cotton and sugarcane production. Amazing creatures that harms little
Excellent, thanks. This is the 3rd time watching, keep coming back for the ant raft 17:44 onwards (and the ant chewing-gum that goes along with it). Also, keep lol at the wonderful example of human stupidity 35:47 : "By the time the eradication campaigns ended in 1975, Invicta had more than doubled its territory" 🤣🤣🤣
That footage was quite poor quality, but it's very difficult to do that well; might be better material online if you search for it; that's the kind of challenge specialist macro photographers love.
We lived in Texas for 12 years and my daughter at 2 played around a nest on the school yard and got attacked. Luckily she was wearing a ttear away diaper and we were able to pick off most of the ants before they reached her . But she did get some bites on her upper thighs . It was painful but she survived. Then we remembered a substance we used back home in Illinois called Terro. The ants not only eat it but take it back to the nest and feed the queen, leading to the death of the nest. Worked like a charm, but it was not available in Texas so we had my in laws send some to us from Illinois an it worked on them too
I;m glad to see that Texas now have something. A mixture of boric acid and honey will do the same thing. Put it on a square of paper or foil by the ants nest or and they will carry it to others including the queen.@@micahteich2089
My dad and I would get that stuff and walk all over acre after acre, putting it on thousands of mounds. It kills them out but in a few months, as long as there is a single colony left alive in the vicinity, they will be right back. We would literally have to kill EVERY ONE of them in the entire country to be rid of them.
Hahaha - just starting this documentary and catching on to the fact that it was filmed to support 3D. That would potentially be a lot of fun with an insect such as the fire ant.
When I lived in Florida I used to get stung by fire ants all the time. It's not a bite, it's a sting and it's very itchy and irritating. They bite but only to hold on so they can sting you better! By the next day or even the same day, the irritation disappeared. So not all that bad, at least they didn't bother me too badly.
Here in Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) I noticed a Nest around a newly installed "Speed Sign" on my Naturestrip. I reported them to the Government, which was a complete waste of time & effort & about 6 weeks later(I was giving the Govt time to "git er done" stupidly) I went & bought some Bifenthrin & treated the Nest myself. A couple of weeks after that I was re-potting some Plants & picked up a bag of Potting Mix (which I buy 10 bags at a time & Store in my Shed), my arms were covered in Ants. After brushing them off, I stupidly opened up the bag as I didn't realise they were in fact Fire Ants on my Arms so unable to put 2&2 together right then. I realised they were Fire Ants (against the dark coloured Potting Mix) & they went crazy spreading everywhere! I've found them 3 times on my Property & have since found out Professionals flood the Nests with at least 500ml of Poison when I was only using about 100ml so not killing entire Nest). My Kids found another Nest on the Naturestrip a Month or so ago(so 5 times total now) & I flooded the bejesus out of it so fingers crossed!
The only thing that eats them is the armadillos. They are specifically designed as fireant eaters and have actually followed them across the migration. The armadillo has a long sticky tongue and its skin is useless against dogs and predators but sting proof
At 23:58 I witnessed something amazing that many may have missed. Look closely to the left of the raft you will see an ant on his back in the water. Clearly struggling as well as drifting away ever so slightly from the pack, another ant on top pulls him in, essentially saving that ants life as well as protecting the structural integrity of the raft itself.
Did you miss the comments about that in the video? It was mentioned several times; the species they are bringing in don't attack native ants; to get import permits they would have had to do extensive research to show there was no risk of the things you're afraid of; professional biocontrol entomologists working under strict regulatory rules.
I'm in TX and got a bad habbit of gardening while wearing flip flops and those damn things would regularly bite me so often at one place I lived that at first it was just a little tiny blister but the more regularly I kept getting bit the more severe the reactions became. The worst time I was pulling weeds and accidentally stepped in one of their mounds and didn't notice until I started feeling the bites that time really sucked they bit me probably 100-200 times they were latched all up my leg and my whole foot/ankle looked like a giant blister
Fire ants were an absolute menace in Parris Island. Every current or former US Marine that attended boot camp at Parris Island has their horror stories.
Awesome insight into these ants, they have made it to QLD here in Australia but so far I think they only have them there, hopefully we can stop them spreading eep!
Well produced! I loved the little touches, special photography (e.g. the forward flies injecting the ants), and your little girls' acting. By now (2023) they are young women!
Great content-I’ve looked across huge fields here in Texas and see fire ant mounds by the hundreds and wondered how they earn a living so close together? They must be very efficient creatures.I work with steam every day and always thought how satisfying it would be to use that on the mounds I guess that’s a drop in the bucket and not cost efficient but maybe harnessing solar to cook the little creeps. I would gladly volunteer to help slow em down.I love the natural world but the fire ant is not at all lovable and I’d be ok providing my efforts in their mass murder.
Thanks for all the kind comments. We initially shot it in stereo 3D. Keeping both cameras in perfect focus at that macro level is exceedingly difficult. My brilliant brother was the cinematographer. Fun fact, the entire flooding close up scene was shot in a kiddie pool, bottom cut out, sunk into the ground around a large fire ant mound. We coated the sides with baby powder so they couldn't climb out, then slowly flooded it with a hose. You can see the kiddie pool in the yard at 2:41. The extreme close ups of the fire ants finding safety and climbing out of the water was shot in a 5 gallon bucket painted black on the inside. The extreme closeup photos were shot at the University of Georgia using a special microscope and software that could compile a hundred photos in shallow focus into one razor sharp photo. Thank you UGA.
If you like this film, check out some of our others: The Wild Pacific, Shark Cinema Science, Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know it, Sea Lion Rescue, Cryptopia, and the latest... Fortitude (on various platforms but not TH-cam yet)
Very interesting, outstanding job, guys!
Absolutely awesome job !
Y'all did amazing!!! Greatly appreciated!!!
👍✌️ from St. Charles Co., Missouri!!!
Great vid, and as a former Tallahassee homeowner, I can confirm: they rule any territory they inhabit. Got stung many times while working in the yard. The thought of kayaking through flood waters and having a fire ant mass swarm your boat is pure nightmare fuel.
As a biologist, one minor science quibble: at one point you refer to the ant as an ancestor of the wasp... in point of fact, ants and bees are more derived (more recent in the evolutionary sense) than wasps. So while there are recent wasp lineages, "wasps" (as that term is commonly used, i.e., a large paraphyletic group of multiple families, infraorders, etc.), predate the ants... not the other way around. Fire ants may, in fact, be "peak wasp." ;)
Seriously though, great video.
Did any of the ants turn into a deva on you 😂
This is one of the best nature documentaries I've ever seen and it's made by one dude using his daughters as actors. Amazing.
And brother!
Very well done. This guy is a pro.
? What do u mean
ah i see. i prefer to use the actors as my daughters.
@@strawberyyicecreamdream216This is what our kids should be watching. Good quality educational programming
I live in southwest Louisiana and have fought fire ants all my life, but a few years ago another ant showed up. They are much smaller than the fire ant and move very fast. We call them crazy ants. They don’t bite and jump off if you get them on you. After a few years the fire ants have literally disappeared from our yard. Also termites have disappeared. Some scientist needs to study these little ants
If you can get close up photos or better yet capture some and send to a state university they should be able to ID the ants. I had an ant infestation and someone told me to ask the state university, I got good photos and emailed them and about a week later they answered and told me the exact species, it enabled me to buy the right kind of baits to get rid of them.
That's happened here in the Southern California desert. I'm fine with the tiny "crazy" ants. They rampage for food once a year, in the early summer. I keep most of 'em out of the house. After the annual feast, they disappear 'til next year.
Species might have been raspberry crazy ants or tawny crazy ants who kill fire ants easily
There is a small ant from Argentina which likes to chew through electrical wires. Do they ever seem attracted to electrical fields/devices/lines? It could be a possibility...
literally....lmao the dbag word of this nation,,,,,,stop please
Had a fire ant problem for years. Couldn't stand in one spot, or they get you. They seem to wait and bite all at the same time. Making their attack more effective. No more. I started taking care of free-range chickens, and no more fire ants. Seems the chickens think they're tasty.
Chicken love spicy food too huh
How do not overran the swarms of fire ants the chickens? Or the chickens eat the members of the colony when to colony is yet relative small those ending it's grow and finally it at all?
Little gasoline goes a long ways too!
Agreed! Fight fire with fire :D
Poppy seeds for chickens
This was one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever seen. Major kudos to the creators.
I have to admit. I never thought I'd be fascinated by a documentary on ants.
You guys did a GREAT job.
Thanks.
Why not? It's important to have an open mind.
As a man, I will watch videos that are intended for women, such as hair, makeup and beauty. It's not that I intend to go into those industries, it's that sometimes it's interesting.
Yep...!
I'm fascinated by fire ants.
😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅😅
That's great buddy now youre a tad bit smarter.
The best way to control the fire ant is mix lemon and lime extract and spray on the mound about 15 minutes before sundown. They can't dry off in the sun and it disolves the ecto skeleton.
Gas O Gas Ilina ⛽⛽
yep! and Lavender Oil will keep them away from your house foundation too!(although fire ants do LOVE eating termites! ) Spray lavender oil in your attic around the eaves of the roof to keep them termites away too!
Most definitely doesn't dissolve exoskeleton 🤦♂️what it does do is, ant use pheromones to know where they are going, if another ant is from their colony and where food is located, citrus destroys the pheromone trail. It won't dissolve the exoskeleton of any invertebrate.
@@ethanmccormack9561 Yes it does. Try it. Make it 50 / 50. I have used it and seen the dead ants.
Buy terro it's cheap a kills the whole colony.
A very long time ago I read a book on Ants. The author at the end stated “If Ants were the size of a medium size dog, they would rule the earth”. I believe this
Actually, if ants were the size of a chihuahua, they'd destroy us.
They already do.
All the ants presently alive outweigh all the people. There are over 20,000 ant species and they have been around for over 100,000,000 years.
Personally I think if they were just ten times there size it would be enough. I got bit hundreds of times in basic training. If they were bigger I would have been in trouble
You would.
Their bodyweight would cause them to be crushed. They are not made to be this big
Great program. Never thought I'd spend 50 minutes of my life watching a documentary about ants. Good job!
Who you? Literally someone special?
But you literally said that you prefer essentially to literally, them used literally when you literally meant essentially..
right! In one sitting too! I couldn't walk away.
it should be followed, for ants have more to teach us then we think. no waste, no greed.. just live in harmony. and when waste happens its discarded..
dont worry, you didnt !.. fire ants are actually a type of wingless wasp ..not in fact an ant .. the documentary hasnt mentioned that so far ....a little bit like how peanuts arent nuts .. they are actually peas (as more than one seed in the pod ..if i remember correctly)..
Near the beginning, he said "...mounds can reach 18" tall..." When I lived in Evans, GA, I saw a mound that was easily 5 feet tall, and backed up by another one 4 feet tall, about 50 feet away... A far cry from 18"...
Very true I lived in South Georgia and I was a 6 year old kid. I stuck a stick in the nest about 3 feet high. Anyway they got all over me I had to go to the hospital.I had a allergic reaction
Out of all the documentaries about ants this has been the most interesting and informative one I’ve seen thus far, this video was well put together and full of great information.
I can’t believe I just watched a video on ants, but this was just fascinating. Ants are remarkable little creatures….except at your picnic.
If you liked this one, you should look into "army ants". I've watched a couple documentaries on them, and they are also fascinating creatures!
When I find them snooping about, it's challenge on! I'm definitely smarter than they are and do win most battles... war still ongoing.
Why can't you believe it? Why is it hard to believe you watched a video about nature?
@@tropicshade You may have the smarts but they have the numbers, endless reserves.
Great Documentary. I grew up in South Louisiana and now live in South Texas. Fire Ants are a constant, almost daily consideration. It's always good to hear that nature can help with nature if we help a little and then get out of the way.
Get chickens, they love eating them.
This doc is EPIC, so well constructed, perfect!
One of my fav channels on TH-cam. Can't get this for free anywhere. Much appreciation ❤
You can quite literally get it free everywhere. Nature documentaries aren't exactly exclusive to the rich lol
You must enjoy the 10's of advertisments.
I feel like I watched this months ago on another channel?
Really happy they aren't any larger.
In Asia, we have large red ants. The bite/sting is not so fierce, but they also squirt ammonia, and can time their attack so aggressively, and in such numbers they can rapidly send you packing.
I think they cant be any larger. the exoskeleton doesnt allow it
Are they edible
ever take a rag to see if you can collect enough to clean a window? 😄
Living with fire ants in SE Queensland Australia, i was fascinated with this doco. Our government uses soya oil plus a sterilant on crushed corn. We shake it and hope that in 6 weeks there is one nest less
Hey, @danm! Back in in 1962 my U.S. Navy dad was given a choice to move our family from Japan to Australia or Washington D.C. Sadly, I think Washington was imposed on him by the powers that wuz. There's a hole in my heart that should have been filled with Australia!
@danmckeown2081 It's hard to fight a creature that's been around long before humans ever existed. They have have the upper hand from having being here and evolving for over 300 million years. The largest dragonfly fossil had a wing span of over 12 inches. Imagine that puppy sitting your lap. It was that big because there was more oxygen in the air then than there is today. It allowed to grow that big. Today they are much smaller. Evolution at work. Darwin was a genius. 👍
A single fire ant bite on my big toe almost killed me. I had no idea I was severely allergic. Within 15 minutes I couldn’t breathe and it felt like my internal organs were cramping up. Now these little shts terrify me. The scariest critter on earth.
"We instinctively seek shelter from the storm."
As an Arizonan, I actively go out whenever there's a storm.
The section about the phorid flies (natural enemy of the fire ants) is fascinating. They remind me of fruit flies. Maybe fruit flies are laying maggots in human brains. That's why humans are losing their marbles. Ha! Thank you! A really great documantary!
Great comment ! You bet ! or something like that ! but the bugs have got it more together …. We’re creating our own demise and de-evolution it seems
I have read that the food we eat alters our behavior patterns. That is probably why we have weirdos all around us. So, be careful when you meet me...Hehe.
Thank you for spelling out the word "phorid." I was not familiar with the term . . . and accordingly I searched these "Comments" hoping someone would so do. The CC kept indicating that the word in question was "forward."
This is a most interesting documentary; complete with excellent production values!
hahaha!
This is easily one of (if not THE) most informative and well presented documentaries about ants that I've ever seen.
Thanks. Really great work! 🤗
Congratulations😮
Nightmare quality! 🤣
I'm Georgia the fire ants do not inhabit the wooded areas. Too much competition from other ants
You must not have seen many documentaries. Try watching the BBC Natural History's documentaries. They are some of the best documentaries in the world. They take years to film.
Why is the background music so loud and repetitive
My daughter and I watched this documentary countless times in the mornings before pre-school.
*_TRUST !!_*
We have them here in Hawaii. Also have the tiny fire ant. A smaller, seemingly more vicious variety , that seems harder to eradicate.Most live in trees and are so tiny they are carried in wind, and rain, making their spread faster. Been treating with many methods for the last ten years, and can only keep them at bay. Have never been able to completely eradicate them!
corn starch poured into a kicked mound will kill that mound. a box of corn starch will treat a whole yard.
bakeing soda works too, anything they can take to the queen and she eats and then the thing she eats expands and makes her explode killing the whole colony of ants, smaller ants need corn powder or baking powder .
you can thank me later.
THE LAST WORD
nothing like a nice, warm , windy day with a face full of ants !!
Diamatycus earth try that
This is one of the most fascinating videos I've watched recently! Please continue your work and sharing with folks like me! Thank you!
I'm Brazilian, livin in the Amazonia region and I would like to say this infernal insect is found here for every where.
I have tried put an end in it in my little farm but without sucess.
Amdro.
Try feeding it with meat, it will stimulate the males to fly off somewhere else to form a new colony.
This infernal insect, lol
Sugar and Borax.
We have them now in most places throughout Australia and we also have the EVEN Smaller Crazy Red Ant or Crazy Fire Ant that is even more dangerous to children , the elderly and to pets. Best of luck for to you against the Ant Army
When I was at FT Benning GA we were doing a road march at like 4am. When we take a break we lay down in the prone position with our rifles pointed outward, and I laid down on a fire ant mound. I had so many bites they made me get in the truck in case I had an allergic reaction. I learn a hard lesson that day.
I did the same thing in Fort Jackson .Yankees learn hard in the south.
I was stationed there in 1974 when I was a 91U. Hated Columbus, prostitution and tattoos.
Fire Ants also found in Cambodia. I used to stepped on the mount and got attacked when I was young. The horrible burning sensation and itchiness is no joke. Unsure how and when they got there but it has been there for a while now.
FIRE ANTS WERE FIRST BROUGHT INTO THE USA BY CARGO SHIPS IN MOBILE ALABAMA.
Ants are my favorite insect, this video has given me even more respect of them, thanks great documentary!
The more I watch, the more I love animals. Thank you for translating it accurately
What an awesome documentary. I live in Central Florida and all I have to say is "Bring on the predator Phorid Fly"!
Phorid fly .. it's from the insect family name, Phoridae.
@@chrisfreebairn870
Thank you for the correction.
"an awesome"... Not "a awesome"
Pinellas county for the last five years. I prefer the Pacific Northwest.
I was weed wracking. I felt the debris hitting my shins. I stopped and still felt the debris hitting my legs. 34 bites/stings. Intense stinging sensation went away pretty quickly. Itched for a week. I don't stand still when outside. 😢
From the North the first thing you hit going down to SoCal is dry sand & ants, from small black sugar ants to fire ants that bit me all over my body when I was 3. We went to some friends house to visit. The ants were in the crack of the curb between the yard & gutter at street. That was the worst pain I have ever felt. I sat there & screamed momma ran & scooped me up, stood me up brushed off as many ash she could. Took off my clothes on the front porch and the lady of the house had a bathtub full of cool tepid water. They put me in and started on my hair the lady as mom was checking my whole butt crack front to back.Weird. But glad she always loved us so much. This was before she got disabled for life. Before she ever got to try having a job. All she did, alot, was having her family as she called it. Said she had to get it growing & wanted to have a boy for your father.
As a schoolchild, I was required to read "Leiningen Versus the Ants" by Carl Stephenson, a short story from the December 1938 Esquire. It was so scary that I still remember it in my sixties, particularly the scenes where wave-after-wave of ants relentlessly attacked a human compound, even crossing moats of burning oil on the carcasses of their dead confrères.
Huh, I too had that reading assignment, around the same time, and had a similar reaction. Always thought it a bit odd that we were assigned that book.
me too. I couldn't see what the point of that story was. stay out of jungles?
@@Miss__Understands likely it was used to help introduce students to "recreational reading " - reading as an entertaiment
Sounds like the basis of the Charleston Heston movie "The Naked Jungle".
I read that story too (not as required reading, I just like to read). I was trying to remember the name of it. Thanks.
As someone who's studied ants as a hobby for the past several years, I learned a great deal from this documentary.
I knew about them creating the rafts, but I have no idea but they made it that flexible nor did I know about them being able to sense the weight of the raft and when to reposition themselves to compensate.
That thing about their antennas being so sensitive that a tea spoon pheromones could span a Trail over 100 million miles was truly astonishing.
I also had no idea they were attracted to the electronics like that. I wonder if the fact that their antennas is so sensitive that there's something about the electricity that mimics something else that attracts them to it. God's creations never cease to amaze me and to add to His glory.
I also think they did an excellent job with the musical score.
Documentaries like these in the fact that I do a podcast of the only reason I'm still on TH-cam. Very well done.
I live in the brazilian savana region and the fire ants are probably native here. When I was young they were endemic in any lawn, and so were a small species of termites. But it`s been a long time, maybe decades since I`ve seen any. Something seems to have killed them of. Sure, there`s a good side to it, but it`s also scary - what`s happened to those little critters? Just like the city sparrows, many small animals were everywhere and now they`re gone or hard to see.
Your ants are loose. We need your to come pick them up please.
@@incorrigiblerogue1193 LOL! Seems like they chose to be next to you. So, they're yours now. Please take good care of them - they're annoyng but cute.
That’s interesting.🤔. That’s something for us all to think about. I’m in the southern part of North Carolina, USA.., 59yr Native American woman and we didn’t have fire ants when I was growing up. I moved away from the area for over 35yrs, came back and here they are.
Cara agora você me fez pensar e isso é verdade, antigamente o jardim de casa era cheio delas, era comum levar picadas mas ultimamente não vi mais nenhuma dessas formigas
They actually killed a nursing home patient in SW Mississippi. What a horrible death.
I live in Australia fire ants are an increasing problem here fortunately authorities are at last getting serious about eradication. Great doco.thankyou.😮
Getting serious in what way? Please inform us Americans so we can follow in your footsteps.
Won't be eradication, but maybe some moderation.
@@bertanelson8062 i have heard the efforts here in australia have been far more effective than the states. here in aus fire ants are spreading 4km per year while in the US its 40km and in china its 80 km
Fire Ants are native to South Americas. In their native land Fire Ants are predated upon by a small fly. The fly predates ONLY Fire Ants. The fly lays an egg near the Fire Ants head and a small maggot crawls into the Fire Ants head. The maggot grows and eventually kill the fire ant. Unfortunately breeding enough flies to control the ants is very difficult.
Incredible research. Thanks to all the great minds working on this phenomena
Central Texas here. Those guys used to be HORRIBLE here. I believe that a large population uptick of Red Harvester Ants is reducing the fire ant population here. The Red Harvester ants are much larger and can sting, but they are not nearly as aggressive as fire ants. I let the "red ants" - as we call them - just do their thing and continue to poison fire ant colonies every chance I get.
You might be surprised how quickly one can remove one's pants when unwittingly standing too close to a fire and mound. 😂
In the 70's, whenever you walked into a field, or the woods, you could pretty much guarantee that you'd get either chiggers, ticks, or fleas.
Now, that just isn't the case.
My friends and i have speculated that, as much of a pain as fire ants are - maybe they have made the fields and woods a lot more pleasant to walk through.
I got a case of chiggers in the early 70s. Not fun at all!
Heard that. Here in Ky I was walking through and was cussing myself for not having big spray and never got a tick. Couldn’t believe it. We don’t have that many fire ants though.
I, for one, welcome our new ant overlords.
Not a single of God's creatures were created in vain.
@@nrnarExcept you! 👊
A fascinating and well presented documentary on this remarkable insect! I loved the mixture of field study, laboratory investigation, and the charming inclusion of interested young children in the garden - well done! 😊
so this is what people who dont live in the real world do with other peoples money (grant research).
With so many other more useful topics to address, like homeless, like war, like governmental corruption and wasteful spending, proving or disproving climate change, addressing africa's famine problem, or taking a stance on Covid one way or the other, abortion rights, one way or the other. Ants is the topic of choice. Sounds alittle detached from reality to spend so much money and time and effort on something so trivial. But again, this is what people do who dont live in the reality of their times, and do it with other peoples money
@@jujupedals3430 Somehow I would bet you live in an area not inhabited by fire ants. Here in Alabama they are a HUGE problem.
@@joecausey8508 what kind of silly assumption is that. How do you even connect my statement with yours. Than again you said youre from alabama. bana-neerneerneer
@@jujupedals3430 If you lived in an area inhabited by fire ants you'd think it was a more serious problem than you let on. One can't enjoy themselves while in the yard for watching for and worrying about fire ants getting on you.
did you somehow miss the numerous real world, behavioral insights and robotics applications derived from studying fire ants...maybe you should watch this AMAZING documentary again, to its end,@@jujupedals3430
Very good! The documentary held my attention from the beginning to the end. Thank you!
As some of my jobs have me working out doors in trees and peoples yards I've experienced these tenacious ants personally. Great documentary here thanks for the upload.
You deserve many awards for this documentary. Thank you for your skill, talent, imagination and generosity. From the UK, where we dont (yet) have these, thank goodness.
As one who suffers from the curse that is fire ants not having them is something to be very gratful for...
the "Borg" of nature...fascinating (and disturbing)...completely understandable why these are such a problem in your yard (and it's no fun getting stung by them)...
For sure. Resistance is futile.
The longer I watch, the more I'm convinced ants work like the neurons in our brain.
Please explain, I'm too dense to make the same connection on my own.
Exactly my line of thought. The interactions and organisations based on chemical communication, all thats left is an elcteic impulse to interpret the circuits they continuous make.
@@HomelessOnlinebasically your neurons send signals to each other with electrical signals and this is how we do everything, they operate in a similar way but bye using pheromones and act as one thing
@@kapelachris9095electric signals can travel trough air as electro magnetic field like in WiFi. They have antenna :😂
I started itching just by watching this.
I watch a lot of documentaries, and I gotta say this was very well researched. very well done
I went to the patretta center last January and went down their bullet slide. I had just bought new swimming trunks which were VERY slick. When I made it to the bottom of the slide the life guard told me that it was the fastest he had seen anyone go. he said my time was 7.43 seconds which was the second fastest time on record. My cousin Lucas told me that he didn't believe me though which was really frustrating because I know he was just jealous.
Moved to Florida 4 years ago and learned my lesson quick.....
Fire Ants are the scariest insect, and they command serious respect and fear.
Where I live and hunt in central NC near the sandhills fire ants are everywhere. Some years back during turkey season I was moving around calling and I moved out to the big powerline cut. In the distance I saw large redish rocks on the powerline cut. I didn't remember that part of the landscape. i got near and realized these rocks the size of a small boulder were actually fire ant hills. Waist high...
I visit a Florida park daily in the summer and I'm always being tasted by fire ants.
@@RunningfromtheherdMan, picnics must suck in Florida.
@@Tavatit’s not the only thing that sucks in Florida
@@Tavatthey don't.
@@mick7even Always trying to kill you; The ocean, fire ants and Florida
I’ve heard anecdotes that the arrival of “crazy ants” has driven out the fire ants in some areas.
I had a friend who was part of that study to use flies to control the ants. He was very smart but he died in a bus accident. AFAIK, the fire ants come from Brazil. We are no that allergic to them, though. I hope the biological control project works!
I got attacked by fire ants in Texas. I felt a bite on my elbow and looked down and couldn't see my legs! That first bite was the signal for thousands of them to bite all at once. They have venom and acid. Their heads separated from their bodies as I tried to brush them off, and they kept biting me! I was standing on their nest after a rain storm. Horrifying.
I stayed at an Airbnb in Arizona a giant fire ant colony newrby. Everytime I went outside on the porch id see multiple fire ants scouting. I started leaving them food to watch their behavior. But then I realized how aggressive they are. Everytime I went outside they’d find a way to climb my leg. Got bit on the foot twice. Those things are manic as hell. If u alert one watch it freak out and bite anything it can. Creepy animals
They bite to hold on. The sting is what hurts.
I get into them at least twice a year fishing. Sometimes you don't know until it's too late because they can often be hard to see.
Big congratulations to Sanford Porter for his research and work breeding the phorid flies. The 3 million phorid flies bred in the lab yearly is a huge step forward. Amazing work Sanford, the hammer is coming down on the fire ants thanks to you.
".. they hitched a ride on a cargo ship and were dumped in an Alabama port." Depiction of said cargo ship goes directly to Louisiana.
Dauphin Island Al. is the first capital of Louisiana
Great show. Great production quality, and damn... fireants are BEASTS!
This is a lot of information many of us probably didn't know...excellent presentation. Thank you!
A couple of years ago, at age 65, outrageous life circumstances left me homeless and penniless with no possessions or ID in Southern California's high desert. At first I thought that meth-heads and other lost souls who wander the brush looking for someone to victimize were my biggest threat. Little did I know that fire ants would instill in me such a profound perspective! THANK YOU, FIRE ANTS for reminding me that there are more powerful entities than than we pathetic humans!
I wish you all the best, may Allah make your life easier and protect you from all danger.
@@livehabesha4642 This bizarre journey has taken me through things I couldn't have imagined, even 17 days in PRISON! I took me a while to see the hand of Allah guiding me. I'm being prepared for a purpose.
Positive vibes to you, without the need of evoking an imaginary friend!
Best of fortune to you, man. Might want to reconsider that "pathetic human" viewpoint, though...we are matter created by the universe that is arranged so complexly that it is able to contemplate itself. Not very pathetic, imo.
"pathetic humans" - what planet are you living on. The ability to travel the skies, ability to transmit data and enormous speeds to people around the world, ability to communicate with anyone in the world, audio, visual, ability to speed across the planet at over 200 MPH, ability to create movies and songs as we have, ability to form complex governments and even create weaponry that could destroy the entire world 100s of times over. How are humans pathetic when compared to a scavenger insect that any human could destroy by the millions in a day? Interesting choice of words
I live in Middle Tennessee where we were always told that fire ants would never make it this far north. Several years ago, I was pumping gas locally and noticed an unusually large ant mound nearby. Yep... it was fire ants; they did make it this far, and beyond.
I live in warren county tennessee. I've had them on my farm now for about ten years. But I have a buddy that lived in the blues Hill area.
He had an infestation in the
80s. They wasn't supposed to be here then but they were.
Same here in central NC. I noticed large mounds in my neighbors yard did some investigating.. seems none were around here just 2 years ago. Just today I found 2 large mounts about 400 ft away from my neighbors yard.p I have purchased some white powder from Lowes' that you sprinkle on top of the mound, and it wipes out the entire mound in just a few hours.
@@jasonnorthcutt3771 what do you farm?
@@DriveLaken last few years ben leasing it out for soybean corn & hay.
In Florida some friends recommended diatomaceous earth instead of constant poisoning, regular spraying around the house, that smelled horrible for days. When building a house, the earth is poisoned under the foundation also. The diatomaceous earth is safe to use around house pets. When using it is good to wear gloves and a respirator/mask.
They are the most successful, I saw one piloting a Yacht just last week.
I was playing with a fire ant hill as a kid , I was flanked by a couple they got me on the foot . Never forgot that . A soldier during "war games" to evade "enemy team" dove into the bush to avoid being "captured " . Landed in a fire ant hill and had to lay still until " enemy patrol " passed. Bit him real bad...I don't know how he did it but he was out for a while . Very serious actually .
You and your buddies did NOT mess around with play time! 😂 ❤
Nobody dived on to a fire ant mound and laid there during "war games"
Cool....Ants are always cool and very hard workers.....
The camera work is just amazing! Thank you for this great video!
Yep, nothing like accidentally stepping in a nest in the backyard. They swarm so quickly!
This was amazing. Thank you very much.
What a wonderful documentary! It's amazing to watch. I captivated my attention from the beginning til the end. Well done !
44:08 She really obviously loves her job. If I had to guess her thoughts, I'd say: "That's what I studied Biology for?!"
46:28 Thinking we're the dominant species and not just a battleground for bacteria and fungi waging their ageless war... how adorable humanocentric ;)
Overall -- great videos, thanks lots!
Putting used or unused coffee grounds on and around their holes or mounds keeps them at bay. While camping in Florida I used this method and was astonished when I saw no ants on the ground or on the mounds. The acidity in the coffee is something they don’t like. Thanks for the video
This is small potatoes compared to the phorid fly method of controlling fire ants shown in the video.
@@robertmorin6495yeah I always keep a stash of flies with me when camping...
Same here. Usually enough for 5 people camping. You can never have to many. @jeebusk
In hawaii, we have LFA (little fire ant) they are the size of a width of a penny. They don't grip well, and if you are under a tree and the wind blows, it rains down ants...Joy... Anyway, we use all kinds of baits to get rid of them. Some work then some don't because the ants get wise to the baits. I wonder if those flies would work on LFA? Would be nice to get rid of them or find a predator that would.
Crazy ants (yellow, black and raspberry)are exceptional fire ant killers .
A dream that Ants were being born from inside of me brought me here. I knew nothing about ants, but the dream revealed exactly what was shown here. Amazing!
Another fab video, love chilling with a few vino's watching your stuff!
Did anyone else get Super Itchy watching this fascinating vid??
I was blown away at the cost of crop damage they do!
I’m still scratching! 🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜🐜
It's peanuts compared to how much food is wasted in USA. "$444 billion worth of food annually.". They probably keep other pest under control and is benifitals. "Red imported fire ants are considered beneficial insects in cotton and sugarcane production. Amazing creatures that harms little
For scale, that's equal about 70% of the US's annual food exports.
Fascinating & terrifying.
There's always a balance in nature and out of nature, no matter how Invincible one might seem
What a pleasant surprise. Thanks for making brilliant content
Excellent, thanks. This is the 3rd time watching, keep coming back for the ant raft 17:44 onwards (and the ant chewing-gum that goes along with it).
Also, keep lol at the wonderful example of human stupidity 35:47 : "By the time the eradication campaigns ended in 1975, Invicta had more than doubled its territory" 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, Australia tried that theory with cane toads. Turned out they weren’t as selective as people thought. Now they’re a huge pest problem.
I have to say that seeing the ants getting stung by the flies is incredibly satisfying. 😈
That footage was quite poor quality, but it's very difficult to do that well; might be better material online if you search for it; that's the kind of challenge specialist macro photographers love.
We lived in Texas for 12 years and my daughter at 2 played around a nest on the school yard and got attacked. Luckily she was wearing a ttear away diaper and we were able to pick off most of the ants before they reached her . But she did get some bites on her upper thighs . It was painful but she survived.
Then we remembered a substance we used back home in Illinois called Terro. The ants not only eat it but take it back to the nest and feed the queen, leading to the death of the nest. Worked like a charm, but it was not available in Texas so we had my in laws send some to us from Illinois an it worked on them too
Texans use Amdro. It sounds comparable to what you had shipped.
I;m glad to see that Texas now have something. A mixture of boric acid and honey will do the same thing. Put it on a square of paper or foil by the ants nest or and they will carry it to others including the queen.@@micahteich2089
My dad and I would get that stuff and walk all over acre after acre, putting it on thousands of mounds. It kills them out but in a few months, as long as there is a single colony left alive in the vicinity, they will be right back. We would literally have to kill EVERY ONE of them in the entire country to be rid of them.
Terro Hey,, Must search it out,, Wonder if its sold in Australia.
They sell Terro ant bait all over Home Depot.
Hahaha - just starting this documentary and catching on to the fact that it was filmed to support 3D. That would potentially be a lot of fun with an insect such as the fire ant.
The footage is sharp and the moment is amazing. Have a nice day all
Informative and cool video. Great work!
When I lived in Florida I used to get stung by fire ants all the time. It's not a bite, it's a sting and it's very itchy and irritating. They bite but only to hold on so they can sting you better! By the next day or even the same day, the irritation disappeared. So not all that bad, at least they didn't bother me too badly.
Here in Queensland (Brisbane, Australia) I noticed a Nest around a newly installed "Speed Sign" on my Naturestrip.
I reported them to the Government, which was a complete waste of time & effort & about 6 weeks later(I was giving the Govt time to "git er done" stupidly) I went & bought some Bifenthrin & treated the Nest myself.
A couple of weeks after that I was re-potting some Plants & picked up a bag of Potting Mix (which I buy 10 bags at a time & Store in my Shed), my arms were covered in Ants. After brushing them off, I stupidly opened up the bag as I didn't realise they were in fact Fire Ants on my Arms so unable to put 2&2 together right then. I realised they were Fire Ants (against the dark coloured Potting Mix) & they went crazy spreading everywhere!
I've found them 3 times on my Property & have since found out Professionals flood the Nests with at least 500ml of Poison when I was only using about 100ml so not killing entire Nest). My Kids found another Nest on the Naturestrip a Month or so ago(so 5 times total now) & I flooded the bejesus out of it so fingers crossed!
Rafting provides an advantage for Invicta (and other ants that are capable) in the lowlands, as it helps colonies survive floods and move downstream.
Very interesting, informative and beautifully produced. Thanks for posting.
The only thing that eats them is the armadillos. They are specifically designed as fireant eaters and have actually followed them across the migration. The armadillo has a long sticky tongue and its skin is useless against dogs and predators but sting proof
At 23:58 I witnessed something amazing that many may have missed. Look closely to the left of the raft you will see an ant on his back in the water. Clearly struggling as well as drifting away ever so slightly from the pack, another ant on top pulls him in, essentially saving that ants life as well as protecting the structural integrity of the raft itself.
I saw that too, amazing.
There is no way I would be able to resist an ant ball fight.
Especially if you happen to wear baggy pants to the fight?
Or just wear a bathing suit after the fight I bet you'll never want to try that again
@@patrickwynkoop9442 Oh, I was planning on being the only person with amunition and therefore winning.
@spindoctor6385 can I recommend Brandon and his puppet masters at this point you'd probably be hailed as a hero among the people lol
We have to be so careful by bringing in the Phorid Fly that we don't start something that will harm us later.
Did you miss the comments about that in the video? It was mentioned several times; the species they are bringing in don't attack native ants; to get import permits they would have had to do extensive research to show there was no risk of the things you're afraid of; professional biocontrol entomologists working under strict regulatory rules.
I'm in TX and got a bad habbit of gardening while wearing flip flops and those damn things would regularly bite me so often at one place I lived that at first it was just a little tiny blister but the more regularly I kept getting bit the more severe the reactions became. The worst time I was pulling weeds and accidentally stepped in one of their mounds and didn't notice until I started feeling the bites that time really sucked they bit me probably 100-200 times they were latched all up my leg and my whole foot/ankle looked like a giant blister
Fire ants were an absolute menace in Parris Island. Every current or former US Marine that attended boot camp at Parris Island has their horror stories.
This documentary was absolutely incredible.
Great job,and thanks for uploading this !
Awesome insight into these ants, they have made it to QLD here in Australia but so far I think they only have them there, hopefully we can stop them spreading eep!
They've been trying to eradicate them for 20 years; costs millions, still spreading .. plenty of info online ..
Well produced!
I loved the little touches, special photography (e.g. the forward flies injecting the ants), and your little girls' acting. By now (2023) they are young women!
Phorid fly .. family Phoridae
@@chrisfreebairn870: Haha! Thanks.
I couldn't catch what he was saying. "Forward" is what the CC said.
@KutWrite I knew it would be a problem for most .. decapitating forehead flies, haha.
Great content-I’ve looked across huge fields here in Texas and see fire ant mounds by the hundreds and wondered how they earn a living so close together? They must be very efficient creatures.I work with steam every day and always thought how satisfying it would be to use that on the mounds I guess that’s a drop in the bucket and not cost efficient but maybe harnessing solar to cook the little creeps. I would gladly volunteer to help slow em down.I love the natural world but the fire ant is not at all lovable and I’d be ok providing my efforts in their mass murder.
@@matthewcaldwell1384: Several mounds can belong to the same queen.
Out of my love for the study of Entomology from very young - I have learned that in nature lies all the solutions to all the problems. 50/50
I wish we could develop similar strategies to address the tick problems in the United States.
The footage is sharp and the moment is amazing. Have a nice day all