Greetings AC Family,

We did it! We hit 2 Million subscribers on the AC Youtube channel. So to celebrate this milestone, this week’s episode is a full ant room tour and update on all the colonies within the Antiverse. It’s an extra long episode with lots of shocking news this week, so grab the popcorn and enjoy! Thank you to all of you who have watched our videos over the years. It is truly appreciated! Ant love forever!

A Room Full of Ant Farms — 2 Million Subs Special

Welcome, everyone, to the Antiverse, the name given to this fully stocked Ant Room, where every flat surface above floor level supports flourishing ant kingdoms of varying sizes. Within these kingdoms, colonies of ants live, die, hunt, multiply, form pacts with other creatures, and face a variety of life challenges and events—ranging from mite infections and invasive wars from savage ants to cannibalism, struggles for power, and even a giant flood.

Basically, these are real ant-life stories that could give Game of Thrones a run for its money. These tales of success and failure make up the incredible and often unpredictable world of ants. But aside from how incredible and epic the lives of these ants are, what makes each of these ant kingdoms unique is that they happen to be the most well-known ants on YouTube.

Welcome, everyone, to the ants of the Antiverse, who have officially hit 2 million subscribers!

Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the bell icon. Welcome to the AC Family! Enjoy!

Greetings, AC Family! Looks like we did it!

It seems like just yesterday we hit 1 million subscribers, which was mind-blowing enough, and here we are now hitting the 2 million subscribers mark. So, for this week’s episode, I wanted to ask you guys what you wanted to see for our big 2M celebration, and well, many of you asked for a complete full ant room tour.

So AC Family, as usual, your wish is my command!

Today, I will walk you through the indoor biodome that has become my ant room, to visit all eight of my current ant kingdoms. If you’re new, you’ll also get a brief backstory on each of the ant colonies so you may better understand why they’ve become so special to us.

I realize that many of you may be new to the channel, so be prepared to be mind-blown. AC Family, if you’re a regular to the channel, brace yourselves, because the updates I have to share today on every colony will definitely shock you.

Also, keep watching until the end, because I will need your input and votes for certain matters, and I have a special surprise to celebrate us hitting our 2M subs mark!

So, let’s begin with the newest ant kingdoms and make our way down to the oldest.

Last week, we followed the creation of our newest addition to the Antiverse, the Plateaus of Gaia, a multi-leveled terrarium designed to nurture a self-feeding system where tiny creatures called springtails would breed, and the ants living there would hunt the springtails down. All I needed to do was add organics, water, and light, and it has been working marvelously so far.

The Plateaus of Gaia are home to the Jawbreakers, a ferocious-looking trap-jaw ant colony with menacing jaws that open 180 degrees and can snap shut with record-breaking speeds and force. The bites from these ants are intense, and if you watch last week’s video, you’ll see how epic their hunting prowess is!

Now, I won’t delve too much into this ant kingdom since we just saw them last week, and there is much to report on the other ant kingdoms ahead, but if you are interested to discover more about the Jawbreakers, feel free to watch last week’s episode.

Now, let’s move on to the next ant kingdom, which won my heart—and apparently many of yours—a couple of weeks ago. Welcome, everyone, to the cutest ant kingdom of the Antiverse: the mystic floating island of Avista.

Avista is home to a bustling supercolony of Pheidole ants, also known as Big-Headed ants. They’re called Big-Headed ants because these ants are polymorphic and have massive majors—soldier ants with huge heads, which specialize in cutting open food and defense.

On the day they moved in, like a scene of ant paparazzi, we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of their four royal queens. Here’s Queen 1, 2, 3, and 4. They founded this colony cooperatively because the species is polygynous and allows more than one queen per colony.

Today, the island of Avista continues to bloom, with new shoots developing from the Great Tree of Wisdom, which stands at the center of the island. The shoots appear as little reddish buds, which give way to new baby leaves that grow in their place. The buds fall to the mossy floor to decompose naturally and fertilize the soils for the tree.

And oh, it looks like we have some garbage to clean! The ants have been eating a lot since they moved in, and I just love how they make it so easy for me to do my work as their weekly garbage man to clean up after them, which I am happy to do.

These are superworm exoskeletons, which their co-inhabiting springtails and mite friends clean further of any remaining superworm meat. And hey, look—it seems they’re not the only ones digging through the ants’ scraps.

I see fly cocoons and a maggot! It seems flies and gnats have taken advantage of Avista’s open-concept design and paid the floating island a visit to lay eggs! These new Avista-born citizens will become adult flies and migrate elsewhere to mate and lay eggs onto some other decomposing material.

The ants don’t seem to prey on them. They are, after all, cleaning up their mess, along with the springtails and mites. Let’s pat the area down to make room for today’s offering: a cockroach head.

They’ll surely love this! And AC Family, watch this! It totally shocked me to see a line of ants suddenly rushing out of nowhere to the roach!

How on Earth did they know about it so fast? I wonder if they’ve come to associate my scent and close proximity with feeding time!

The ants came pouring out of their hole from across the island to collect the goods. Look at how determined that worker is to pull that huge roach head. Haha! I think you’re going to need some help there. Perhaps some strong majors’ jaws will do the trick.

All this protein will be essential to the egg production of their queens as well as the fairly rapid growth of their young. Due to their four-queen egg production and all the food they’ve been eating these past three weeks, I have no doubt in my mind they are growing in numbers fast underground!

When this colony outgrows Avista here, I plan to create a bridge leading to another floating island and continue expanding in this manner until Avista is a network of connected floating islands. Wouldn’t that be so cool?

Alright, AC Family, new and old, while the ants are feeding here, it is now time to cast your vote. Let’s give this four-queen supercolony of Big-Headed ants an official name, shall we?

Please take a quick moment to vote here on my top 5 picks from your name suggestions in comments from their last video. Thank you, AC Council, for your input! We will announce the results in a future video.

OK, time to move on. Let’s move eastward to revisit the enchanted region of El Dragon Island, a kingdom that quickly became an AC Family favorite. It is a moated paludarium ant kingdom because, like other past ant kingdoms on this regional shelf, El Dragon was under siege by a wild colony of pharaoh ants whose thirst for ant blood and meat seemed insatiable. These invaders even massacred a great past colony of ours.

To protect El Dragon, we designed it to be a moated world, keeping pharaoh ant scouts out and swallowing up any ants that attempted to swim across to the island. The moat is guarded by Rasbora fish, who prowl the River of Dragon’s Tears.

These predatory fish act as El Dragon’s “moated gators,” effectively keeping pharaoh ants at bay. If you’re new to El Dragon, this ant kingdom was initially inhabited by another colony called the Black Dragons but was later replaced due to their escape by a new colony we’ve called the Platinum Dragons.

These ants are commonly known as lesser weaver ants, named for their behavior of making nests within leaves of trees and shrubs. For now, the Platinum Dragons live here, quietly nestled within the great skull that adorns the eastern plateau of El Dragon. They clean each other lovingly, trying to alleviate the effects of a plague of mites.

You see, when the Platinum Dragons moved into El Dragon four weeks ago, we were shocked to discover that they were battling a severe infestation of mites. You voted for us to proceed with mite therapy using lemon slices. However, AC Family, I think you’ll be surprised by what I have to show you now.

Check this out, guys! On the night I planned to start the lemon therapy, I offered the ants some sugar water in a snap cap vial, which they absolutely loved. But as I examined the ants’ bodies, I noticed something very exciting: the ants showed signs of having little to no mites encrusting their bodies or eyes!

I maybe counted one or two mites per body, if any—far fewer than the clumps of mites we saw when they first arrived. This was amazing news! It meant the phoretic mites were leaving the ants’ bodies and becoming free-roaming mites, feeding on decaying matter in the habitat.

The ants were showing such promising signs of recovery that I decided to hold off on the lemon therapy to see if their natural mite riddance would continue. Watching them devour cockroach meat and sugar water with such enthusiasm was a great sign.

Their excessive feeding is a good thing. These nutrient-rich meals are shared with colony members, including the queen, through a process called trophallaxis. When the Platinum Dragons first moved in, they had only one larva, which was critical because larvae are essential for producing the silk needed to glue their debris nests together.

Without larvae, the ants had to resort to living in an exposed and drafty skull. But AC Family, I have shocking news to report. A few nights ago, something incredible happened with the Platinum Dragons.

Peeking into the skull one night, I was speechless—the ants were completely gone! Not a trace of them anywhere! My heart sank as I had flashbacks of the Black Dragons’ escape.

I immediately inspected the habitat. I checked the foliage, the water, and the soil. No evidence of the colony anywhere! And then I saw it—AC Family, the Platinum Dragons had officially created a leaf nest!

Look! Right there! Do you see all that debris? I literally jumped for joy when I discovered the Platinum Dragons had built a royal leaf suite within the concave spaces of the leaves!

This was amazing! What’s even cooler is that the ants had recycled debris from their old skull nest to incorporate into their new leaf home. Talk about resourceful ants!

The fact that they had built this much larger and more natural nest structure confirmed that the queen was laying eggs and that the colony had enough larvae to produce silk. The Platinum Dragons are thriving, AC Family!

As a final piece of news, I am happy to report that as of this morning, the Platinum Dragons are completely free of mites. Isn’t that great, guys? They have a new home, are healthy, and have a promising future ahead.

And now, we move on to an ant kingdom we haven’t heard much about lately. In fact, we’ve only seen them in one episode. In the lowlands sits the Grove, the quaint territories of a young colony of terrestrial carpenter ants.

Now, we haven’t heard from them much because their colony is still young, and they live underground, where we can’t see them. They’re also nocturnal, secretive, and feed very infrequently. Carpenter ant colonies, as a rule, grow relatively slowly when the colony is young.

The reason they feed infrequently is that they have repletes—specialized worker ants who act as living food storage for the entire colony. These repletes gorge themselves on food when it’s available, then regurgitate and distribute it to the rest of the colony over time.

This adaptation allows the colony to survive during times of food scarcity. Hence, there hasn’t been much to report on them. I suspect the colony is living somewhere beneath this large rock, but I’m reluctant to lift the rock in fear of injuring the queen or the young.

Still, there is some news regarding their ever-evolving territories! New plants have started to sprout, like this cute spade-leafed plant and this miniature plant that reminds me of mistletoe.

Even more exciting, patches of moss have naturally begun to grow in the Grove. I’ve never been able to grow moss in my terrariums before, so seeing it thrive here naturally is incredible. I’m hoping the colony eventually moves into this hollow bamboo, where we can better observe them.

Alright, let’s move on to the Grove’s twin territories. Flipping the table around, we visit the notorious wilderness known as the Shire—the territories of our exotic colony of Asian bullet ants, called the Black Panthers.

Every time I look into the Shire, the landscape looks different. The vegetation is so healthy and lush, it constantly changes the scenery. Inspecting closer, I spotted some Black Panthers working on a fresh cockroach carcass. These ants love their cockroach meat!

In fact, check this out—one ant had been carrying a pack of worms but completely ditched her catch to join the roach feast. These tiny worms, by the way, are a regular food source for the Black Panthers. I discovered that they routinely harvest these worms from the watermelon slices I place in the Shire.

The watermelon serves as food not only for the ants but also for flies, springtails, and worms, which the ants gather like tasty berries. These ants are incredibly intelligent in their food-collection techniques.

Of course, they prefer portable food items that are easy to carry back to the nest. But when something is too large to drag, watch how crafty they are! One ant grabs a mandible full of roach meat and starts pulling.

AC Family, watch closely—she’s literally gutting the roach before our eyes! This requires enormous strength, but she’s relentless. With one final pull, the roach guts separate from its exoskeleton, and she carries her prize back to the nest.

Unbelievable, right? It’s fascinating to see the mechanics of how ants work so resourcefully to feed their colony.

Peeking into the nest, I noticed a chamber filled with cocoons—all neatly packed together in a single hatchery. These cocoons are where new adult ants develop. Nearby, I spotted a nursery filled with larvae, squirming and hungry, reaching out to feed on a piece of cockroach meat.

This colony is thriving. They have healthy young, a growing army in development, and are exceptionally skilled at gathering food. The Black Panthers are well on their way to success.

Alright, AC Family, now we move up to revisit the great OG colonies of the channel, beginning with the Golden Empire, our massive colony of yellow crazy ants.

Welcome, everyone, to the Hacienda Del Dorado, the great ant kingdom that started off as a simple, neat garden but has developed over time into this huge, partially open-concept paludarium. If there’s an ant colony that’s gone through a lot, it’s the Golden Empire.

These ants have faced numerous challenges, including surviving a mite plague, merging twice to form a supercolony of now eight queens, and even enduring an internal war before uniting. With their booming population and no natural predators to control their numbers, we’ve had to get creative to manage them.

We tried introducing carnivorous plants and even a praying mantis predator to control their population, but neither solution worked. Finally, we added the Golden Springs, a pool designed not only to provide fresh water but also to naturally limit their population by drowning weaker, less nimble ants.

This method has worked well over the months since its introduction. The Golden Springs have successfully controlled the population, and within its waters lives Emperor Sapphire, the colony’s pet crayfish. Emperor Sapphire keeps the pool clean by feeding on the dead ants that fall in.

However, AC Family, something surprising has happened to Emperor Sapphire. Here lies his empty shell, which the Golden Empire has eaten. That’s right—Emperor Sapphire has shed his exoskeleton and grown even larger!

Let’s coax him out with some fish pellets. There he is—shy but as beautiful as ever and much bigger now. Soon, we may need to relocate him to a larger aquatic space. It’ll be sad to say goodbye to Emperor Sapphire, whom we’ve watched grow from a tiny crayfish to this massive water beast.

Meanwhile, the Golden Empire continues to thrive. I gave them a cockroach to feast on, and it was incredible to watch them swarm their meal. Despite their challenges, this colony has proven resilient, resourceful, and capable of building a thriving empire.

Next, we move on to our second-to-last ant kingdom, the Dark Knights, a supercolony of Black Crazy Ants. The Dark Knights are housed in a multi-unit setup connected by an expansive network of tubing, spanning 55 feet and even extending outside the Antiverse.

This colony has been so drama-free it’s almost boring! They’ve thrived quietly, with no significant challenges, and have even established satellite territories in different units. What’s fascinating is watching how quickly they communicate food discoveries.

When I place food in one unit, scouts immediately spread the news through the colony’s network. Within minutes, ants from distant territories rush to the food source, showcasing the efficiency of their communication and teamwork.

Interestingly, this colony is technically immortal. The queens of this species can produce genetically unrelated males, allowing them to mate within the colony and continuously produce new queens. As long as no external force destroys the colony, the Dark Knights will live on forever.

Finally, we arrive at our last and most famous ant colony: the Fire Nation, housed in the Selva de Fuego, a South American biotope river paludarium. This colony of fire ants has been with us since the beginning and has provided some of the most dramatic and memorable moments on the channel.

The Selva de Fuego features a flowing river, a waterfall, and an automatic rain system, replicating the Fire Nation’s native habitat. However, the colony is currently facing a crisis.

A leak in their refugium has caused severe flooding in their soil territories. I managed to redirect the water flow back to the waterfall, but I’m unsure if the queen was able to surface in time. If she didn’t, the colony may be doomed.

Adding to the crisis, the Guppy Gang—our fish that once inhabited the river—has vanished. I’ll need more time to investigate and address these issues, but I’ll update you all next week.

AC Family, your input is crucial. Should I replace the refugium or remove it entirely? What do you think happened to the Guppy Gang? And do you believe the queen survived the flood? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Together, as a united community of over 2 million ant enthusiasts, we can solve these challenges and ensure the Fire Nation’s survival.

And with that, we conclude our ultimate tour of the Antiverse as it exists today. These ant kingdoms inspire us with their resilience, teamwork, and adaptability, reflecting our own human struggles and triumphs.

Thank you for being part of this journey. As always, it’s ant love forever!

AC Family, did you enjoy this week’s special 2M subscriber episode? Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE to help us keep making more!

To celebrate 2 million subscribers, I’ve invited some of my YouTube friends to attempt the Ant Scientific Name Challenge. Enjoy their hilarious attempts to pronounce ant names, and let’s continue spreading our love for ants worldwide.

If you’re new to the channel, check out the playlist for the full storylines of our ant colonies. And for AC Inner Colony members, I’ve left a hidden video with extended footage of your favorite ant colonies.

Now it’s time for the AC Question of the Week! Last week, we asked: Who is Gaia in Greek mythology? Congratulations to Michelle McCollum, who correctly answered: Gaia is the Greek primordial goddess of the Earth.

This week, we ask: Which is your favorite ant colony in the Antiverse and why? Leave your answer in the comments for a chance to win a free Hybrid Nest 2.0 premium ant farm from our shop.

Thank you, AC Family, for helping us reach this incredible milestone of 2 million subscribers. Here’s to the journey ahead—onward to 3 million!

It’s ant love forever!