Greetings AC Family,

This week, we introduce you to our brand new ant colony of Odontomachus infandus, trap-jaw ants, a beautiful species native to the Philippines. We test to see what their feeding habits are like and show you how they behave differently than our other ants.

We need your help, though! Help us name this new colony of ours by leaving your name suggestion in the comments section of the video. Who knows? Maybe your name suggestion may be voted to be their official name in a future video!

Hope you enjoy this week’s video!

Photo of trap-jaw ant in thumbnail by Alex Wild from www.alexanderwild.com.

My New Trap-Jaw Ant Colony

It’s always sad when an ant in your care dies.

This is a trap-jaw ant queen we caught a few months back.

She passed away, probably because she wasn’t fertilized.

But we have some good news.

We’ve got… a brand new ant colony!

These new ants are also trap-jaw ants, but an even larger and more menacing species!

In this episode of the AntsCanada ant channel, we will meet our brand-new ant colony, the

ants who we shall hopefully nurture until they, too, become a large colony like the other

colonies of this channel.

Today, we’ll see what these menacing ants are like, we’ll try feeding them, and we’ll take

a look at their unique personality.

I’ll be asking you for name suggestions for this colony, so keep watching until the end

and start thinking of those names!

AC Family, let’s take a close look at our brand-new, scary yet intelligent Odontomachus infandus colony in this episode of the AntsCanada Ant Channel.

Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the bell icon to be notified of every upload.

AC Family, enjoy!

Due to the overwhelming response when I caught this recently passed trap-jaw queen ant, I

decided, once this queen finally died, to obtain a young trap-jaw colony through the GAN Project.

These ants are huge, about 2 cm in body length!

Their scientific name is Odontomachus infandus, and other than the info we presented in our

past video on trap-jaw ants, I know nothing about their care.

This species is native to the Philippines, and this colony was reared from just a single

caught queen. I’m hoping they survive!

Look at how they communicate with each other.

Unlike our other ants, these ants seem a bit more primitive somehow, and it seems each

ant has its own individual personality.

I also get the sense that they are more intelligent somehow.

You’ll notice it while watching this video.

You can almost see them thinking.

Those mandibles, which open 360 degrees, can snap shut with immense power and speed, and

I’ve been bitten by another species of trap-jaw ant before, and I can tell you it was one

of the most painful things I’ve ever felt from an insect!

I don’t intend to be bitten by these girls.

This colony is living in a dirt setup in a plastic container.

I don’t intend on moving them at this stage because they seem to be doing well at the

moment.

Because it’s a dirt nest, the inner colony is hard to observe—one of the drawbacks

of housing ants in dirt nests—but this species seems to be doing well.

There are 4 workers, a queen, and a good pile of brood.

The workers are always foraging, popping in and out of their inconspicuous nest entrance.

OK, so let’s try feeding these girls, shall we?

A Blatta lateralis roach. I heard they will eat these.

Trap-jaw ants are very specialized when it comes to feeding, and I heard they are extremely

picky in captivity.

Let’s see if they will accept this cockroach nymph.

The huntress approaches cautiously.

She smells it with her antennae.

She doesn’t seem to want to bite it yet.

3 mins later…

Unsuccessful.

She ignored the cockroach, probably because it was too large of a prey item.

Let’s try an even smaller cockroach nymph.

The worker approaches and inspects the pre-killed cockroach carefully.

I find it amazing how it seems she examines the prey item carefully before pouncing on

it, as if she noted that it wasn’t really moving or putting up a fight.

That’s a girl!

A very wise choice, fine warrior, for saving precious energy!

And now here comes her sister.

What are they gonna do?

As soon as the cockroach starts moving, she goes in and bites.

A helping bite from her sister, then she picks up the cockroach to position it for one powerful

sting.

Whoa!

The cockroach is still moving, and it seems these girls won’t risk bringing it into the

nest unless they are sure it will not cause any trouble for them in the nest.

They ravage the dying cockroach. Check out that teamwork!

What’s your next move, ladies?

Come on, bring home the cockroach bacon!

Yes, pick it up. That’s right.

Awww…

It looks like they’re unsure what to do.

And then comes a third worker.

This one seems to be a dominant one.

One of the workers rushes to inform her of what’s going on.

Look at the way she moves. You can tell she’s boss!

She inspects the cockroach kill carefully.

I really hope they take this cockroach because if these girls don’t accept these tiny Blatta lateralis nymphs, then chances are they won’t accept any other insect prey items I try feeding

them.

Indeed, these ants seem challenging to feed.

I love watching them inspect the cockroach.

It seems like they’re trying to figure out what they want to do next.

Ohhh, she’s picking it up!

Yes!

Oh… wait a sec.

Indecisive.

A few minutes later… yes!

The workers carry the cockroach towards the nest… oh wait…

What the?

What’s happening?

Change of plan.

In the end, this cockroach was rejected.

So is that the final decision, girls?

Yes, they even carry the cockroach further away from their nest, perhaps so it wouldn’t

attract unwanted insects to their home.

These girls are really picky indeed!

OK, AC Fam. Third time’s a charm.

Let’s try an even smaller cockroach nymph, shall we?

Placing the smaller cockroach in. Let’s watch the battle.

I’ve time-lapsed this so we can watch all of the action in a shorter amount of time!

She goes in for the sting and brings the food prey back to home.

Alright, she did it!

Oh… Seems they’re having problems fitting it into their nest entrance.

Eventually, one of them has an idea.

Stuff it in there!

And in goes their next meal!

This cockroach will give sustenance to this fledgling colony for the next day or so and

feed the growing brood, which is so crucial at this stage because if this colony is to

survive, they will need as much worker force as quickly as possible.

I continually wet this digging medium as it seems this species likes their digging medium

fairly moist.

I will be sure to keep you guys updated on their progress, but as is our tradition, we,

the AC Family, shall name these fine ladies!

In the comments section, please let us know your name suggestions for this colony.

What should we call them?

Be sure to also feel free to give your favorite suggestions a thumbs up, and then in a future

video, we will hold a poll where we can officially give this colony a name.

Thanks for watching another episode of the AntsCanada Ant Channel.

I appreciate you guys taking the time to get to know our new pet ants.

Always remember these ants on this channel are yours, too!

Let’s stay connected, and I will keep you guys updated on their progress.

It’s ant love forever!

AC Family, hope you liked this week’s video and our new trap-jaw ant colony!

They’re still young and have lots of growing to do.

For you Inner Colony members, I’ve placed a hidden cookie for you here if you would just

like to watch extended play footage of the ants doing their thing without all the commentary.

And now, it’s time for the AC Question of the Week!

Last week, we asked: “Why are Dracula ants called Dracula ants?”

Congratulations to Merkins, who correctly answered, “Dracula ants are called Dracula ants due to a unique process in which they drink the blood of their young.”

Congratulations, Merkins! You just won some AC test tubes from our shop for housing your newly caught queen ants this year.

And for this week’s AC Question of the Week, we ask:

“Why did these trap-jaw ants reject our first cockroach?”

Leave your answer in the comments section, and you could win a free eBook handbook from

our shop, just perfect to brush up on your basic ant-keeping knowledge so you’re ready

for the nuptial flights, which are now happening in the Northern Hemisphere.

Be sure to subscribe to this channel so you don’t miss our weekly ant video uploads.

We upload a new ant video every Saturday at 8 AM EST.

It’s ant love forever!