My new, young fire ant colony, the Phoenix Empire, is quickly growing in population now, but with a growing amount of brood, and with new adult fire ants appearing every day, social structure and rules are of utmost importance if the colony is to succeed. Check out some of the incredible rules the Phoenix Empire have established to ensure optimal living conditions and survival of the colony! Hope you enjoy this week’s episode.
MY FIRE ANTS SET UP SOME NEW “HOUSE RULES” | The Phoenix Empire Laws
They’ve got new rules, they count ‘em!
Behold the Phoenix Empire, a young fire ant colony that is growing bigger in numbers by the day. It’s amazing to think that just a few weeks ago, this fruitful fire ant colony started with just one pregnant queen ant and her eggs. Now, she’s got her own growing army of workers, masses of babies, and more on the way.
But as more fire ant members join this multiplying army, new rules and colony laws must be set in place if they’re to succeed at becoming a mighty fire ant colony. These new Phoenix Empire rules, which all members must follow, will truly blow your mind!
Welcome to the AntsCanada Ant Channel. Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel and hit the BELL icon. Welcome to the AC Family. Enjoy!
If there’s something ant-keeping has taught me, it’s that ants are so much like humans, it’s staggering.
Before us here lies the simple setup in which an intricate city of fire ants is slowly taking shape. You guys will trip out at some of the rules they’ve begun to establish, so keep on watching until the end to find out what the Phoenix Empire’s new quote-unquote colony rules are.
But first, here is the Phoenix Empire’s gorgeous royal queen, whose name is now officially the Ember Empress, thanks to you guys who voted for her official name in last week’s video.
Now, I can’t figure out if it should be “Empress Ember” or “Ember Empress.” Can you guys take a quick moment to vote here to help decide on her official name? Thank you, AC Council, for your input.
She’s an awesome queen and has been quite busy. Have a look.
This here is just one section of her impressive brood pile. You can see eggs, larvae, and pupae. And here is the queen’s newest clutch of eggs! If you look carefully, you’ll notice that some of the eggs have already hatched into tiny larvae.
Congrats, our Empress! You’re doing great!
Now, this might be random, but a lot of you have been asking about the three bumps on Empress Ember’s head, some of you guys even fearing they were mites.
No need to worry, though! Those are actually eyes called ocelli, useful to the queen during her past nuptial flight—the great night our Empress here left her mother colony and mated with males from other colonies.
Flying and seeking out potential males, all while also trying not to be eaten by predators, requires good vision. So, having these extra eyes on top of her head is super useful.
They’re kind of like a fire ant crown now, and those wing scars you see on her thorax are like her royal stripes—earned the moment she broke off her wings after insemination, marking the start of her journey as queen!
Now, with the queen constantly laying eggs, and all these new babies popping up demanding attention and care, the workers have been extremely diligent at helping raise their growing siblings.
Which brings me to the Phoenix Empire’s first set of rules.
Phoenix Empire Rule #1: Arrange the kids according to age!
Like preschool, you may notice that the workers have started to pay closer attention to arranging the brood according to life stage and age.
All the eggs are bunched together, and stray eggs eventually get picked up and placed in the egg pile. The same goes for larvae and pupae.
As the colony continues to grow and these brood piles get even larger and larger, segregating the young according to age becomes more and more important. And here’s why:
Each life stage requires a specific care regimen and environment.
For instance, eggs need to be bunched together so they better retain moisture collectively, plus they’re easier to transport in packages in case of an emergency—like during an anteater tongue intrusion or something.
The larvae need to be constantly fed, and as they shed their skin multiple times while maturing, the workers need to eat the larvae’s shed skin, as you can see here, so that it doesn’t just lay around and grow fungus.
Speaking of fungus, by the way, eggs and larvae need to be constantly licked clean by the workers, as ant saliva contains an antibiotic and antifungal which keep all brood safe from harmful fungus or microbes.
Finally, pupae and pupating larvae are placed in the warmest portions of the nest to help them develop as quickly as possible so they can become adult worker ants faster and help out!
So as you can see, the Phoenix Empire here is getting really systematic with how they do things.
But fire ant youth management isn’t all.
Check out what else the Phoenix Empire had been secretly planning!
So, this brood explosion has been the result of all the food I’ve been providing the colony this week.
Peeking into their food chamber, this AC Test Tube Portal from our AntsCanada.com shop has been fully stocked with goodies.
Have a look!
Here, you’ll see a hollowed-out superworm piece.
And behind it, some sweet mango-flavored jelly.
And much like we saw last week, evidence of these foods can be seen through the larvae’s semi-transparent skin.
But with all the eating this colony has been doing as of late, it made me wonder what the colony was doing with all their waste.
Their test tube appeared clean and sterile as ever.
What was the Phoenix Empire doing with their leftover scraps, I wondered? And where were they going to the bathroom?
AC Family, Rule #2: All members of the Phoenix Empire are to do their business and eliminate at the designated colony bathroom.
Behold, the Phoenix Empire’s official toilet!
Sounds weird, but isn’t that awesome?
They’ve chosen a spot right behind the jelly to poop.
If you’ve never seen ant droppings before, they look like this.
Like bird poop, they have a whitish liquid part and some solid pieces.
And what’s totally amazing is they’ve strategically set up their toilet area at a spot furthest from the colony.
It’s a smart toilet location!
The poop dries up and isn’t anywhere near the delicate young or the colony’s living quarters. It can just decompose naturally in the corner.
I’m not too sure where the queen poops, though, because I couldn’t see any droppings in the test tube.
I assume it’s too dangerous for the Phoenix Empire to allow Empress Ember to wander out into the open.
So my guess is that the workers simply carry her royal droppings to dump into the toilet area.
It also would make sense that her droppings would be minimal, as I’m sure most of the material she eats goes toward all the eggs she’s producing.
But guys, bathroom rules weren’t all that surprised me.
Looking around the test tube portal, look at what else I found!
Rule #3: All colony garbage is to be dumped at this place.
Beneath the cup of jelly, I was thrilled to discover the colony’s garbage.
Little bits of uneaten superworm and mealworm leftovers, as well as the meconia or fecal pellets of the larvae, were all stashed here.
It’s interesting that they chose to place their garbage underneath the jelly cup because it showed that the Phoenix Empire understood the need to bury their garbage.
Now, there was one last rule the Phoenix Empire was following, which I found to be the most interesting!
Rule #4: Only the oldest ants are allowed to leave the nest at any time!
Notice how all the workers entering the new test tube here are dark in color?
Only the colony elders can venture out into the world outside the nest!
While all new young workers are stay-at-home caregivers and house chore workers!
It’s a smart colony rule!
It ensures that inexperienced young workers don’t die early, and those that venture out are the hardiest.
Isn’t it amazing how systematic they are now?
I think we’ll see this more and more as they grow.
AC Family, I love that you all are following this journey with me!
If you haven’t yet, SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and hit the BELL ICON so you don’t miss an update!
It’s ant love forever! 🐜❤️
The Future of the Phoenix Empire
AC Family, our fire ants are on their way up, and it’s great that you all are part of this journey!
So much is in store ahead, so if you haven’t yet, SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you get notified with every upload.
Because sometimes, YouTube breaks and doesn’t send out notifications, but crossing fingers, things will be fixed.
Also, don’t forget to hit the LIKE button every single time, including now.
It would really mean a lot to me.
Thank you, guys!
AC Inner Colony Exclusive
AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here if you would like to watch some extended play footage of the Phoenix Empire discovering their new water test tube, as well as the colony going about their daily activities in their nest.
And now, it’s time for the AC Question of the Week!
Last Week’s AC Question of the Week
Last week, we asked:
Why does an ant colony need protein?
Congratulations to Ruby Raven Gachalife, who correctly answered:
“Protein helps the larvae grow and the queen to lay more eggs.”
Congratulations, Ruby! You just won a free Ultimate Ant Keeping Handbook from our shop!
This Week’s AC Question of the Week
In this week’s AC Question of the Week, we ask:
What do you look forward to most in the Phoenix Empire’s future?
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 our 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! 🐜❤️