Ants vs. Frogs – What happens when we attempt to combine a massive, aggressive ant colony with a small group of microhylid frogs? Today we watch as we attempt to create a community within the Hacienda Del Dorado, our paludarium and former home of the Golden Empire (yellow crazy ant colony). It was a great Co-habitation Experiment that I prayed would work out. Join us for another week of ant and frog discovery!
Ants vs. Frogs: Who Eats Who?
They live in a terrarium known as the Plateaus of Gaia, which they have transformed and customized to fit their needs as the colony has grown over time.
What makes these ants unique are the bear-trap jaws that they sport on their faces.
These jaws are allegedly the fastest-moving predatory appendages in the animal kingdom, which open 180 degrees and snap shut with mind-blowing speeds of 126-230 km/h, with peak forces exerted at 300x the body weight of the ant.
As a mental visual, that’s like dropping 12 SUVs onto something if the ant were human-sized!
Crazy and painful bites from an ant, and believe me, I know this from literally first-hand experience!
So, the Jawbreakers, having been problem-free for the 10 months that I’ve had them, were the most ideal and deserving ant kingdom to inherit the new Hacienda Del Dorado.
But as I went in to collect the final five frogs in the Hacienda Del Dorado, I looked at an insect trapped in the water, which the frogs were likely going to eat up in a bit, and then I looked back at the Jawbreakers dealing with a superworm in their current nest, and suddenly I was struck with the most amazing but ambitious idea.
AC Family, now hear me out and listen to this.
I wasn’t sure if it was going to work, but something told me there was a good chance it would.
What if we could leave the frogs in to co-inhabit the Hacienda Del Dorado with the Jawbreakers?
Now, here’s why I felt it could work. The frogs generally hang out in this wet marsh area, as well as the pond, and the Jawbreakers are more land-loving ants.
In herpetoculture, as a rule of thumb when combining species to co-exist in a single terrarium space, you should mix species that occupy different niches within the living space.
This way, they do not compete for territory, and it decreases the chance of conflict.
But what made this whole trap-jaw ant-frog cohabitation idea very attractive to me was the prospect that perhaps these frogs, which actually specialize in eating ants and small insects, could be used as a population regulator for the Jawbreakers!
Could you imagine if we wouldn’t have to worry about the Jawbreakers overpopulating the Hacienda Del Dorado and still be able to keep these five frogs, which admittedly I have come to love, and not have to worry about feeding the frogs?
The frogs could pick off several ants a night and keep the Jawbreaker population under control.
Now, the trap-jaw ants are a little over twice the size of the Golden Empire’s yellow crazy ant workers, and we saw in a previous video that the frogs could consume 8-12 yellow crazy ants a night, which means the frogs could probably consume 4-6 trap-jaw ants a night. Multiply that by five frogs, and that translates to 20-30 ants eaten a night.
This was a good number in my mind for the size the Jawbreakers were at now. Perhaps my calculations were way off, but I was willing to try it out.
There was also the danger that the trap-jaws would totally swarm the frogs and kill them, but knowing how nimble the frogs were, I knew they could easily leap into the safety of the water area if they needed to.
But one thing I needed to test first was to see if the frogs had a taste for Jawbreakers.
AC Family, I usually don’t feed live on this channel, but frogs require moving prey to feed, and this test was necessary to see if our prospective cohabitation project would actually work.
So, I grabbed a Jawbreaker ant and placed it into the Hacienda Del Dorado.
AC Family, let’s watch this in slow motion for added dramatic effect.
The ant was placed onto the moss, and let’s watch what happens.
And look, a frog pops out from beneath the driftwood.
AC Family, brace yourselves, and don’t blink, as we’re about to watch just how fast a frog can pick off an ant.
Bam! Swallowed!
The frog crushed the ant instantly using its muscles and the bottom of its eyes to ensure the ant was dead and unable to sting the frog or bite it from the inside. Success! The frogs officially will eat the trap-jaw ants.
Many ants in the Philippines, from where these frogs naturally live, are aggressive, stinging species, so I knew the frogs would be able to handle consuming trap-jaw ants. I tried a couple more ants, and the frogs devoured them with gusto!
This was it!
Now that we knew the frogs loved to eat the trap-jaw ants, it was now time to move the trap-jaw ants into the Hacienda Del Dorado.
AC Family, this was going to be an operation and a half! You won’t believe just how epic the process was!
So here was the problem: how to move an entire ant colony of aggressive, bite-ready, and stinger-ready trap-jaw ants living in a smallish glass terrarium into a bigger terrarium?
Usually, moving an ant colony from a test tube, formicarium, or container is easy, as you only need to use light to get them to move out and into a desired space. But in this case, we couldn’t use light, and we certainly couldn’t bore a hole into the glass to get them to move out by heat.
As an added danger, I was afraid to go in with a trowel or digging apparatus in fear of injuring or splitting the queen in half, which would have been the death of the entire colony.
There was only one safe way to move the Jawbreakers into the Hacienda Del Dorado. We had to dump them in—soil, decor, and all.
But to do that, we needed protection. I, along with two other friends, wore protective gloves and face masks in case we got trap-jaw ants on us. A sting or bite from one of these trap-jaws would be extremely painful, and to make matters even more dangerous, trap-jaw ants can use their trap-jaws to jump!
Before making the move, I had to make sure the frogs were out of the way, so I guided them carefully into the pond area. I also went in to clear-cut some of the excess foliage in the middle and clear the danger zone.
I then went in to remove a large piece of driftwood from this corner of the terrarium, where I intended to dump the majority of the soil and trap-jaw ants from the Plateaus of Gaia.
And now here was the hard part. The first part of my plan was to remove the main driftwood piece that acted as the skeleton of the Plateaus of Gaia, and as quickly as possible, place it into the Hacienda Del Dorado.
I knew with this driftwood piece would also come some soil, the plants, and a lot of ants!
Here we go, AC Family.
1 – 2 – 3!
With the Plateaus of Gaia held up against the side of the Hacienda Del Dorado, I swiftly picked up the driftwood from inside the Plateaus and quickly placed it into the terrarium.
Ants were everywhere, but I did my best to stay focused and act quickly.
After having removed the main driftwood piece, I could now see just how many ants there actually were. There weren’t thousands of ants in the nest. The Jawbreakers were easily a couple of hundred thousand!
Wow! Look at them! They scurried around, carrying brood to safety. What a successful colony!
I then went ahead and carefully scooped handfuls of soil into the Hacienda Del Dorado, and with them fell the ants.
I made sure to work softly and carefully because, in this mess, was the queen, and she was the most important member of the colony to keep safe. I knew the workers would protect her wherever she was in here.
And after an hour and a half of careful operation, all the Jawbreakers were in.
Subscript: 2 days later…
AC Family, would you believe that our plans worked? Behold the new Hacienda Del Dorado—the new home to the ant kingdom we call the Jawbreakers.
Check out all the new tunnels and ant hills the Jawbreakers have made in the soils. They’ve truly claimed these territories as their own. I couldn’t look away!
It was all so beautiful! So mesmerizing and hypnotic to watch the ants at work.
It’s amazing that in just two days, they’ve constructed a subterranean lair to house their massive colony. I am certain the new space will give the Jawbreakers much room to expand and increase in numbers.
Isn’t that something, guys?
And look! It turns out, the frogs enjoy feeding on the trap-jaw ants every night and will even venture onto Jawbreaker territory to pick a few off before retreating back to the marsh and pond to rest.
As I had expected, the ants have claimed the land, while the frogs have claimed the wetlands. Both creatures will sometimes venture into the other’s territory, but based on what I can see, both parties are content and beautifully co-existing.
At times, the ants will shoo the frogs away if they get too close, but the Jawbreakers seem much more interested in pre-killed insects than anything else.
They’ve even managed to fish out hiding roach nymphs, which managed to evade our frogs back when I was feeding them before the Jawbreakers moved in! The Jawbreakers seem to be thoroughly cleaning up house!
Watching all this made me remember that this complex ecosystem of interdependent organisms we set up actually extends deeper into the food chain in this Hacienda Del Dorado.
Because, AC Family, get this! If you recall from a past video, insects captured by the Jawbreakers are actually brought piece by piece into the soils, where they are used to feed colonies of smaller creatures called springtails, which the trap-jaw ants just love to eat.
I suspect that is what they’ll be doing here in the Hacienda Del Dorado as well, as these lands are abundant in springtails!
Now all I need to do is throw in a few pre-killed insects, which the Jawbreakers would feed to springtails, which would be eaten by the Jawbreakers, who are, in turn, eaten by the frogs.
What an epic food web, wouldn’t you say, AC Family?
Overall, this was a monumental moment for me and the Antiverse, as it showed me that ants can actually live with larger-scale animals like frogs if carefully planned.
I’ll be sure to closely monitor this new community within the Hacienda Del Dorado just to make sure there are no problems. But from the looks of things, everything is running smoothly, just like drops of water of a perfect waterfall.
I, as the Creator of Worlds, was pleased with our work today, and I am grateful that you, AC Family, have joined us for this new chapter in the Antiverse.
It’s ant love forever.
AC Family, did you enjoy today’s episode?
I’m so thrilled at this new cohabitation project that has so far worked out! Are you happy that the Jawbreakers were moved in?
There is still much more ahead in the Antiverse with the other ant kingdoms, so guys, if you’re not subscribed yet, be sure to hit that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now so you don’t miss out on the real-life drama of the inhabitants of the Ant Room.
And don’t forget to hit the LIKE button every single time, including now! It would really help a lot!
Speaking of ants, it’s officially nuptial flight season in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of you are catching queen ants now.
And in case you didn’t know, we’ve got all the top-of-the-line ant-keeping gear for you ant keepers at all levels—from beginner to advanced—as well as a ton of new and exciting products for the ant-keeping community not available anywhere else.
So head on over to AntsCanada.com and browse through our shop.
We ship worldwide and offer full email support if you need us.
We also have ant colonies with a queen available in most regions, so go check us out and pick up your ant farm kit and ant gear today!
If you’re new to the channel and want to catch up on all your AntsCanada Lore, feel free to binge-watch this complete storyline playlist here, which traces the origins of all the ant colonies of the Ant Room.
This way, you can follow their stories and better appreciate how these ant kingdoms came to be and why we love them so much!
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here if you’d like to watch extended play footage of the Jawbreakers living in the new Hacienda Del Dorado!
And now it’s time for the AC Question of the Week!
Last week we asked:
What do the Bobbleheads do with their garbage?
Congratulations to Maya Samson, who correctly answered:
The Bobbleheads leave their garbage at a garbage site.
Congratulations, Maya Samson! You just won a free e-book handbook from our shop!
In this week’s AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What is blackwater?
Leave your answer in the comments section, and you could also win a free e-book handbook from our shop!
Hope you can subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8 AM EST.
Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video to help us keep making more.
It’s ant love forever!