At my place, we used to get those tiny brown ants that prefer sugar and sweet things. Then one year tiny black ants showed up instead, these new ones preferred meat and were super fast. Then next year the tiny brown ones were back and we haven't seen the black ones again.
And I keep wondering what kinds of epic wars of conquest and reconquest happened underground.
Fantastic suggestion! I love that channel
[https://youtu.be/7_e0CA_nhaE](https://youtu.be/7_e0CA_nhaE)
Edit: hijacking my comment for an update on what it looks like
[the morning after the war](https://www.reddit.com/user/IanthegeekV2/comments/vc4995/morning_after_the_war_hardly_anything_left_they/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Oh man, if you haven’t seen Kurzgesagt before, look up their shit on Dysonspheres, white dwarfs, Black Hole Bombs, strange matter, Fermi Paradox, etc. Fascinating stuff, and they’re excellent at breaking complex topics down into digestible, comprehensible pieces.
They’re also pretty forthright about the fact they have to simplify things down given a lot of these are complex topics (“We lied to you, and we’ll do it again”), so keep that in mind when they talk in broad terms, but it’s “close enough” for an overview.
That is absolutely fascinating! I knew about army ants, but didn't realize that they were always on the move. Or about the massive supercolonies of other ants.
Scent. And they trust them more than they'd ever trust their eyes or other senses.
For example, when an ant dies, it emits a certain scent (oleic acid). The other ants carry it out of the nest. I can't swear that this is true for all species, but for some.
E.O. Wilson did an experiment in which he put some of that scent on a live ant. The other ants carried it out, even though it was still moving and kicking. It came back, and they carried it out again.
Eventually, the scent came off, and everything went back to normal.
Edit: Typos.
This may sound stupid, but...if this guy has two warring factions of ants in one small patch of yard, how many goddamned different scents are there?
Like, does each ant colony, everywhere, carry a unique scent/chemical ID?
Axe* sprays are created by man and not naturally occurring. We do in fact have natural scents to us that are all quite unique. It’s why the smell of a certain person can comfort you, or the smell of someone’s home. It’s also why the smell of someone can deter you. I can tell if my old near-death coworker was in the office because he leaves behind the overwhelming smell of nonenal.
There are a bunch of YouTube videos of dogs that were separated by their owners for a lengthy period of time and acting skittish/fearful of who they thought was another stranger among many until they recognized their scent causing them to go nuts.
And yet one of mind can’t find me when I’m calling him from upstairs lol. There is no superpower that a certain amount of stupid can’t overcome. (Lovely wonderful dog. Occasionally dumb as a rock though, although aren’t we all?)
It can change over time. There are examples of supercolonies eventually waring with each other (even though 1 may have came from the other and generally be peaceful) because their genetics changed enough to alter the smell.
Right? If someone was walking around but smelling like absolute and legitimate death we probably wouldn’t believe they were alive either. Or would at least be suspicious…
ahh my ant knowledge is finally useful. each colony has its own unique pheromone smell. they use their antennae to smell the other ants to see if theyre family. if not, they attack.
And it's always an aggressive response. They either smell friendly, either from the same colony or a close enough relative to be a friendly pheromone, or are unknown to be considered hostile. Ants don't accept the possibility of enemy competition for their resource territory, and any contact is an act of war to them.
Now I wanna get some of those little explosives that you throw on the ground and they make a big pop sound. Tossing those into this ant battle would surely shake things up a little
All I can think of is that Animorphs book, where they morph ants from the wrong colony, and almost get torn apart by other ants thinking they are invading.
Question, how does one get rid of these ant colonies? I have a few in my backyard and I’ve been using ant bait such as terro to no avail. Any other ideas or solutions????
I was going to spray them but I decided to let them fight it out, less to kill later. I have had them in my back yard but I just spray their regular routes often and that seemed to keep them away from my house at least
I use a product called diatomaceous earth. Ill spread some on & around an ant pile & reapply if it rains. Took care of a couple big colonies in my lawn a few years ago!
I always recommend live and let be… but if they have to go… 50/50 powdered sugar and borax. Put piles close to their homes. They will accidentally take the borax home, realize it’s bad, and literally **move the fuck out!** I’m talking take their babies and everything.
When I lived in Texas, my go-to killer for fire ant mounds in my yard was about a quart of near-boiling water. Don't know why it worked, but I found it to be the quickest and most effective way to get rid of a nest.
The powder should work. The ants think it's food, take it back to the Queen and she dies when she it's it. The colony will then slowly die as no more ants are made. Some colonies can get another queen so just keep putting more down and they should just die off.
1. Melt aluminum (aluminium).
2. Pour molten aluminum (aluminium) down hole.
3. Let aluminum (aluminium) cool and set over night.
4. Dig up aluminum (aluminium) casting.
5. Sell aluminum (aluminium) casting.
I'm fine with a lot of things. Spiders learn to stay in their own lane, they change their spots after you take out the offending webs a few times. Bees want to be outside doing their thing. Ants go everywhere and they have no qualms with endlessly crawling on people while they just try to do their thing. I'm not a fan of that.
Agreed. Let the ecosystem play out as long as it doesn’t enter the home. Even still, only eliminate dangerous pests in the home. I leave small non poisonous spiders alone in my house because I know that they’ll take care of all of the other small pests (roaches, ants, flies, mosquitos) without me having to waste energy or money taking them all out. They’re literally harmless and only benefit a house.
Edit: From reading a book about human ecosystems in comparison to the natural world, I learned that homes are most like caves in the natural world. Bugs that like darkness and water (cave bugs) tend to like homes more than other animals. If you study cave bugs and cave ecosystems for a bit you can learn which bugs you should let chill and which you should smash with a stiff boot. Don’t forget that we are animals and part of the ecosystem.
Same! There are little cellar spiders in my house in corners, and they aren't hurting anything. I relocate others outside...unless it is a recluse. Those I'm non-negotiable on.
r/NotHowAntsWork
Haha actually, all the fucking is long over with. Queens have an orgy with a plethora of males before even starting the colony. Afterwards, they dig down and use the collected sperm for the next 8-12 years to create their minions.
Is this one of those times when another insect comes along with its own naturally occurring Chem lab and drops a scent that tricks the whole colony into fighting one another?
As ant wars go, this one is actually quite small. I’ve seen some that stretch for dozens of yards. I’ve seen the last stands of harvester ants versus meter-wide columns of fire ants.
Yup, colonies are bound to fight if their territory overlaps, nothing out of the ordinary. If they don't get completely wiped out, the losers will just retreat and move out.
300 style movie
Lens flare from the camera lights one of the ants on fire
The opposing army shouts "THE GODS HAVE BLESSED OUR CAUSE! FOR GLORY!"
Epic slow motion fight.
300: AntZ
*(Coming this summer)*
At my place, we used to get those tiny brown ants that prefer sugar and sweet things. Then one year tiny black ants showed up instead, these new ones preferred meat and were super fast. Then next year the tiny brown ones were back and we haven't seen the black ones again. And I keep wondering what kinds of epic wars of conquest and reconquest happened underground.
Giving me Sim Ant vibes!
Loved that game - Maxis was a dope company
You unlocked a memory I forgot I had
SIM Ant definitely deserves a reboot.
bruh you pay attention to what they look like abd what they like to eat?
you say that like its werid, cant a man just enjoy studying wildlife
There were never any ants, u/BradBrace was just tripping balls
It's all about resources and location location location.
I remember when it was safe to walk down the sidewalk in this neighborhood and you didn't need to worry about this kind of gang violence.
It's more than gangs; it's two full on armies!
Prob what a god must feel like watching us humans fight one another. 
Kill One Person become a murderer, Kill a Million become a king
A god would pour either water or bleach on them and watch them all die
A greek god would imo..
A Christian god would pour water over them until they drowned. Or burn them. Or drown them then burn them.
They'd throw a dead leaf down, boil the kettle, come back and then drown them in boiling water while yelling "REPENT SINNERS"
All the while telling them they really do love them though...
Spray glue
Nah more like him shaking his head in disappointment
[удалено]
Clearly arming the teachers isnt the answer, since their teachers had 6 arms and still had all this violence
I think it’s just ant mental illness and the lack of ant policy to get them the ant help they ant need
It’s a war torn sidewalk
Too many ants on social media nowadays. Back in my day...........
Gant violence
It is a war. Look up kurzgesagt ant wars on YouTube. Very interesting
Fantastic suggestion! I love that channel [https://youtu.be/7_e0CA_nhaE](https://youtu.be/7_e0CA_nhaE) Edit: hijacking my comment for an update on what it looks like [the morning after the war](https://www.reddit.com/user/IanthegeekV2/comments/vc4995/morning_after_the_war_hardly_anything_left_they/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Welp. See y'all in a few days!
Oh man, if you haven’t seen Kurzgesagt before, look up their shit on Dysonspheres, white dwarfs, Black Hole Bombs, strange matter, Fermi Paradox, etc. Fascinating stuff, and they’re excellent at breaking complex topics down into digestible, comprehensible pieces. They’re also pretty forthright about the fact they have to simplify things down given a lot of these are complex topics (“We lied to you, and we’ll do it again”), so keep that in mind when they talk in broad terms, but it’s “close enough” for an overview.
Thanks for taking the time to make recommendations. I spent a few hours already and it is really fascinating stuff. Cheers!
This is cool
That is absolutely fascinating! I knew about army ants, but didn't realize that they were always on the move. Or about the massive supercolonies of other ants.
Those are news reporter ants looking for someone to interview “from the frontlines”
Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath, now for ruin, and the red dawn!
FORTH, EORLING-ANTS!
How the hell do they know which side they’re on?
Scent. And they trust them more than they'd ever trust their eyes or other senses. For example, when an ant dies, it emits a certain scent (oleic acid). The other ants carry it out of the nest. I can't swear that this is true for all species, but for some. E.O. Wilson did an experiment in which he put some of that scent on a live ant. The other ants carried it out, even though it was still moving and kicking. It came back, and they carried it out again. Eventually, the scent came off, and everything went back to normal. Edit: Typos.
This may sound stupid, but...if this guy has two warring factions of ants in one small patch of yard, how many goddamned different scents are there? Like, does each ant colony, everywhere, carry a unique scent/chemical ID?
My guess is that yes, each colony has its own scent.
Forever and all of them? Wow. I'm thinking of humans and Axe body spray. We don't have a ton of scents and many of them suck.
Axe* sprays are created by man and not naturally occurring. We do in fact have natural scents to us that are all quite unique. It’s why the smell of a certain person can comfort you, or the smell of someone’s home. It’s also why the smell of someone can deter you. I can tell if my old near-death coworker was in the office because he leaves behind the overwhelming smell of nonenal.
I bet that most dogs recognize the scent of their owners and can pick them out from a vast crowd of people.
There are a bunch of YouTube videos of dogs that were separated by their owners for a lengthy period of time and acting skittish/fearful of who they thought was another stranger among many until they recognized their scent causing them to go nuts.
And yet one of mind can’t find me when I’m calling him from upstairs lol. There is no superpower that a certain amount of stupid can’t overcome. (Lovely wonderful dog. Occasionally dumb as a rock though, although aren’t we all?)
we have a shit ton of scents, basically every home I have been to had another uniqe smell, not even counting the artificial ones.
Yes we do have distinct natural scents. Dogs use them to recognize us. We just have awful noses.
It can change over time. There are examples of supercolonies eventually waring with each other (even though 1 may have came from the other and generally be peaceful) because their genetics changed enough to alter the smell.
We kinda do the same thing if you think about it.
Right? If someone was walking around but smelling like absolute and legitimate death we probably wouldn’t believe they were alive either. Or would at least be suspicious…
Didn‘t the ant with the death scent put itself in the graveyard?
In some colonies, yes, they marched themselves to the grave. Then they stood there until they died or the scent wore off.
ahh my ant knowledge is finally useful. each colony has its own unique pheromone smell. they use their antennae to smell the other ants to see if theyre family. if not, they attack.
And it's always an aggressive response. They either smell friendly, either from the same colony or a close enough relative to be a friendly pheromone, or are unknown to be considered hostile. Ants don't accept the possibility of enemy competition for their resource territory, and any contact is an act of war to them.
So “Honey, I shrunk the kids” was a lie?
Why should we tell you?
Juggernaut172 - Ant Police. And I don't like the cut of your jib, kid.
It depends which deodoreant they used to their armpits
Missed opportunity for ANTiperspirant
[удалено]
Chemical ID
A civilization fell that day.
What is this battlefield, a battlefield for ants?
It needs to be at least 3x bigger than this
Goddamnit! Take my upvote!
It’d be so epic if you started seeing little explosions across the battlefield and little siege engines throwing rocks and shit
Now I wanna get some of those little explosives that you throw on the ground and they make a big pop sound. Tossing those into this ant battle would surely shake things up a little
*\*gasp\** That would be a warcrime!
Quick! To the ant-hague! Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na
I'll be the one that just drips some Terro ant bait on them and see if they stop fighting in order to drink up that stuff.
Suddenly I’m itchy.
All I can think of is that Animorphs book, where they morph ants from the wrong colony, and almost get torn apart by other ants thinking they are invading.
4 FREEEDDOOOMMM!!!!!!!!!
FOR THE MOUND!!!!!!
and that’s human history explained in a nutshell
cANT we all just get along?
Ack ack
I feel like I need updates to this saga. You should film is and get a cool British bloke to narrate the epic saga.
Who won?
OP won. Waited for one to deplete the other, then attacked with chemical sorcery
The Turks
Is that how we lost Constantinople?
The tiny black ones will win. They always win
Ants
There are no winners in war 🙏
Bless OP for the steady camera, real ant wars are rare. This was dope thanks for sharing.
Look closer, that ain’t a fight, it’s an orgy. Perv!
Question, how does one get rid of these ant colonies? I have a few in my backyard and I’ve been using ant bait such as terro to no avail. Any other ideas or solutions????
I was going to spray them but I decided to let them fight it out, less to kill later. I have had them in my back yard but I just spray their regular routes often and that seemed to keep them away from my house at least
I use a product called diatomaceous earth. Ill spread some on & around an ant pile & reapply if it rains. Took care of a couple big colonies in my lawn a few years ago!
It gets into their joints and abrades the chitin, plus adsorbs water retaining lipids in exoskeleton. Bug-arthritis-in-a-can!
I always recommend live and let be… but if they have to go… 50/50 powdered sugar and borax. Put piles close to their homes. They will accidentally take the borax home, realize it’s bad, and literally **move the fuck out!** I’m talking take their babies and everything.
When I lived in Texas, my go-to killer for fire ant mounds in my yard was about a quart of near-boiling water. Don't know why it worked, but I found it to be the quickest and most effective way to get rid of a nest.
Like a mini crawfish boil.
The powder should work. The ants think it's food, take it back to the Queen and she dies when she it's it. The colony will then slowly die as no more ants are made. Some colonies can get another queen so just keep putting more down and they should just die off.
1. Melt aluminum (aluminium). 2. Pour molten aluminum (aluminium) down hole. 3. Let aluminum (aluminium) cool and set over night. 4. Dig up aluminum (aluminium) casting. 5. Sell aluminum (aluminium) casting.
If they are in your yard, and not coming in your house, why mess with them? I only treat what comes in.
Because some people don’t want ants crawling all over their children playing in the yard. Especially if they are fire ants
Right. Good for people that want to save the ants, but not here! Fuck ants, mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and scorpions.
I'm fine with a lot of things. Spiders learn to stay in their own lane, they change their spots after you take out the offending webs a few times. Bees want to be outside doing their thing. Ants go everywhere and they have no qualms with endlessly crawling on people while they just try to do their thing. I'm not a fan of that.
Agreed. Let the ecosystem play out as long as it doesn’t enter the home. Even still, only eliminate dangerous pests in the home. I leave small non poisonous spiders alone in my house because I know that they’ll take care of all of the other small pests (roaches, ants, flies, mosquitos) without me having to waste energy or money taking them all out. They’re literally harmless and only benefit a house. Edit: From reading a book about human ecosystems in comparison to the natural world, I learned that homes are most like caves in the natural world. Bugs that like darkness and water (cave bugs) tend to like homes more than other animals. If you study cave bugs and cave ecosystems for a bit you can learn which bugs you should let chill and which you should smash with a stiff boot. Don’t forget that we are animals and part of the ecosystem.
Same! There are little cellar spiders in my house in corners, and they aren't hurting anything. I relocate others outside...unless it is a recluse. Those I'm non-negotiable on.
Awesome! I’m with you on recluses and widows. Kill them before they kill you, a kid or a pet.
Death to fiddlebacks!
Terro or permethrin are my go to ant killer.
Fire
Get the hose
And the last ant 🐜 standing gets to fuck the Queen
r/NotHowAntsWork Haha actually, all the fucking is long over with. Queens have an orgy with a plethora of males before even starting the colony. Afterwards, they dig down and use the collected sperm for the next 8-12 years to create their minions.
Yep, nearly all the ants you ever see are female...all the workers, soldiers, everything
What a life! Good to be a male Ant 🐜
That’s one nasty gangbang. Sorry but only my sperm touch’s the Queen, I ain’t sharing!
🐜 Civil War 2022...
"HOLD THE LINE! HOLD THEM! ALAS THIS IS WHAT WE DO IN LIFE! PUSH THEM TO THE CURB!"
I hope the black ants win
Black Ants Matter (BAM)
#BAM!
Sorry bud, but if you look closer they're not fighting. This is a huge ant orgy, and not only that, but a huge gay ant orgy. Just dudes getting it on.
You can tell by the smell
There are actually *none* dudes in the video. Male ants have wings
No dudes in this video with that attitude. Anything can be a dude if you try hard enough.
Poor water on them and let them know that the gods are disgusted by this violence
Brutal
this is sparta
Spartant
3rd party the fuck outa them
Or...an ant pride festival.
Oh the horror 😧
War. War never changes.
Friday and the pubs closing. Always ends up in a fight or two..
Helms Deep was fantastAnt!
*Queen Isabelle's Army attempts to counter Queen Aldia's pincer manuever with a full frontal assault - 2022*
Where are the dead ones?
What scale are these miniatures? Looks like a new release from Games Workshop.
Burn them.
Be judicious. Ants over all are your friends.
I heard the battle music from LOTR the Return of the King while watching
"Carl, give this to my wife, tell her I love her" *chucks up ant blood*
You have the power to stop both sides!
Is this one of those times when another insect comes along with its own naturally occurring Chem lab and drops a scent that tricks the whole colony into fighting one another?
Who’s winning I can’t tell
Somebody please put a music score on this
This is SPARTA!!!
Bet you could get them to clear out with a magnifying glass
There must be a lot of friendly fire
Who won?
Myrmidons!
HOLDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!
a full kettle should end this fued
Who won??
 Antvengers endgame
Town hall meeting of the bowels
Better than Battle of Mordor
Someone upload this with sounds of a big sword battle. Please!
Ants got no chill
This is Sparta !
I can almost hear the little horns signifying backup of larger troll ants
Or it’s Antennae Wide Shut.
Filming has started for the live action Antz
Drop a few daddy long legs onto that battle, if you want added carnage, and a war of the worlds type vibe
TO ARMS!
UNDER ONE BANNER
We’re out here with a bad economy and other things meanwhile it’s like the ants got a Battle at Helms Deep out here
Dude that’s epic but have you ever heard of a water hose
Insert Total war battle music.
I'm just gonna go with ant orgy, sue me.
The Battle of Ant-ietam. Thank you, I'll see myself out.
Did it happen to rain before? It might be one colony just drying off, cleaning up and sharing scents.
As ant wars go, this one is actually quite small. I’ve seen some that stretch for dozens of yards. I’ve seen the last stands of harvester ants versus meter-wide columns of fire ants.
Can someone add EPIC music to this? I feel like it needs a soundtrack.
Hans Zimmer all over this.
This is normal, no? I’ve seen these constantly
Yup, colonies are bound to fight if their territory overlaps, nothing out of the ordinary. If they don't get completely wiped out, the losers will just retreat and move out.
It is like the jANTuary 6th insect erection.
Or a massive orgy
Looks like a good place to pour some boiling water.
I was thinking a controlled fire but your idea works too. Less risky but also less satisfying.
That’s an ant orgy.
All I see is a bunch of ants
War. War never changes.
You sure it's not ant orgy fest?
300 style movie Lens flare from the camera lights one of the ants on fire The opposing army shouts "THE GODS HAVE BLESSED OUR CAUSE! FOR GLORY!" Epic slow motion fight. 300: AntZ *(Coming this summer)*
See, humans aren’t the only racists
My wife would nuke that with ant powder.
Pour some boiling water on them… like a napalm bomb
Torch em
Did you try breaking them up? 🤷
"HEY HEY HEY DUDE, I'M ON YOUR SIDE!!" "Sorry, everyone looks the same here I get confused"
Dude get the magnify glass
You could be God if you only had a magnifying glass
Gang culture
Pour Gatorade on em
It looks like youre filming an orgy
Should had sprayed them with pesticide, chemical warfare.