Ecotasia's video: Formica Ants: Dulosis Body Snatchers and Inquilines

In the mountains of western North America many similar red Formica ant species coexist. Many of them build nests quite distinct from other ants; thatch mounds built from plant material they collect from the forest floor. This ant is living a lie. She is not toiling away to increase the reproductive output of her mother; her work is aiding these ant’s queen. These are formica aeserva, a slave-making ant species, they raid the nests of other ants and steal the brood, then raise them as their own; these kidnapped ants are completely unaware that they are slaves to the aeserva, not contributing to the success of their own kin, but a completely different species. There is another form of ant slavery in these forests, temporary nest parasitism. Queens of species that do this behavior are often small with strong exoskeletons. This morphology is perfect for letting them infiltrate the nests of a different species. The parasite sneaks around, searching for the queen. When she finds the queen of the colony, she wrestles the larger insect, eventually killing her. The parasite then begins to lay her own eggs. Like with standard slave-making ants the workers are none the wiser to the sinister intentions of their new queen. Over time the parasitic species begins to become more and more numerous, eventually replacing the old colony from the inside. Formica though are not the only ants out here who take advantage of other ants to get a leg up on the competition, and these mighty thatched nest mounds themselves have been invaded by other ants, Inquilines. An inquiline is a permanent parasite inside a colony of a different ant species, basically squatters that often make their home in some small corner of the nest out of the way. Source Welcome to AntWiki. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2020, from https://www.antwiki.org/ Music "Giant Wyrm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 0:00 Terminology Discussion 0:41 Thatch Ants 1:51 Dulosis 2:23 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Temporary Nest Parasites) 3:44 Inquilines If you like animals and nature Please Subscribe and Like Welcome to Ecotasia! On this channel you can find wildlife footage and short documentaries on the natural world. I am an early career biologist who was inspired by the likes of the BBC Natural History unit, PBS, and Animal Planet as a child and then more recently by various nature YouTube channels to share my love for animals and nature. My goal is to document and highlight the interesting ecology and behavior of organisms I encounter, as well as cover and elucidate conservation and biological topics. Please Subscribe so you can join me to marvel and to learn twice a month. Underwater Worlds https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAJNusnxcNoHUx_sNDYT92k Journey through the Undergrowth (Macro footage of insects and Arachnids) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZC-4h2hpK09I-FF563TQzlc Bird Playlist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZqNM9k7OoY&list=PLYx5OP7sbAZACa11LD1wDQhn0SI2-SV1f Birding Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAYjq78IuGJI4wc0GXDRHTd Conservation Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYx5OP7sbAZAIUm5UCl84q2KU2nI3YLpx also Check Out my Photography Adventure Blog https://johnjacksonphoto.blogspot.com/