WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.919 Oh hey, okay, quick, heads up, this is an encore 2 00:00:02.919 --> 00:00:04.960 episode because I went to visit my parents this weekend. 3 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:07.040 I had a lovely time, and I just straight up 4 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:09.359 needed to put up an encore because I'm still working 5 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:13.480 hilariously on the ADHD episode. And you know what, we've 6 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:16.039 done two hundred and fifty episodes in maybe like five 7 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:21.879 or six encorees, so there's plenty to choose from. And ants, Oh, 8 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:24.960 let's do it. I love this one. I love this ologist, 9 00:00:25.000 --> 00:00:28.679 and everyone has ants, but now you'll know the ants 10 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:34.600 that you have. Also the most swearing done by any ologist, 11 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:39.600 perhaps ever, but in an educational way. Okay, oh hey, 12 00:00:40.039 --> 00:00:42.479 it's your grandma's new boyfriend who just wants to show 13 00:00:42.479 --> 00:00:46.799 you some magic tricks. Ali Ward back with another episode. Apologies, 14 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:49.759 So it's Tuesday, man, Let's learn about some ants. They're tiny, 15 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:54.439 they're mighty, they're harmless, sometimes not, and they're more organized 16 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:57.679 than all of the clowns on your slack thread. But 17 00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:00.520 you know what, maybe you don't want to see thousands 18 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.600 of tiny ladies having an all night rave in your 19 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:07.439 cereal pantry. But to quote common parlance, can a bitch live? 20 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:11.200 Let's learn about these little creatures, and more importantly, let's 21 00:01:11.239 --> 00:01:14.680 suck some self help and organizational strategies out of them 22 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.000 with a mirrorcologist, which is a word you only know 23 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.840 about if you're a miracologist. But first pre usual, you 24 00:01:21.840 --> 00:01:24.000 know the drill. I say thank you to people who 25 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.840 let me keep the podcast going, all the patrons at 26 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.959 patreon dot com slash ologies who pay a buck or 27 00:01:29.959 --> 00:01:32.400 more a month, and is always thank you to the 28 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:35.000 folks who say, you know what this pod is worth, 29 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.599 mashing the star button on the iTunes app and maybe 30 00:01:38.680 --> 00:01:41.680 leaving a review for dad word to creep in the 31 00:01:41.799 --> 00:01:44.640 night when she feels lonesome, and then read aloud to 32 00:01:44.680 --> 00:01:47.760 you to prove that I read them and I picked 33 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:50.799 a brand new, fresh one February first, twenty twenty two people, 34 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:52.879 I went in and I put it in here. I 35 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:57.719 don't slack even when I'm slacking, So thank you HBXCS 36 00:01:57.799 --> 00:02:02.239 for leaving this review titled the Metric. I frequently compare 37 00:02:02.280 --> 00:02:04.719 new podcast to ologies to determine how good they are. 38 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.959 This podcast is simply the best. Thank you for saying that, 39 00:02:08.199 --> 00:02:11.360 which reminds me that we do need a metrology episode 40 00:02:11.719 --> 00:02:14.800 about measurements, So thank you to everyone who left review though, 41 00:02:14.879 --> 00:02:17.039 including you, the amazing Hufflepoff. I read all of yours. 42 00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:23.039 Ooh okay, mirmacology. I said that all strung out like 43 00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:24.439 a line of ants. Did you like it? 44 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:24.800 Good? 45 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:28.680 Okay? So I'm writing this before looking up the etymology. 46 00:02:28.759 --> 00:02:30.759 I'm just gonna say I wrote this before I looked 47 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:32.479 it up. I took a wild guest that it was 48 00:02:32.560 --> 00:02:37.520 Greek for ant. Hold on, I google it, damn it. 49 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:41.960 I'm right. But it wasn't coined until nineteen o six, 50 00:02:42.080 --> 00:02:45.840 when naturalist William Morton Wheeler was like, dang it out, 51 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:48.759 love ants. I need a title that sounds like a wizard. 52 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:52.879 So he took mrima and put mycologists there. You go, 53 00:02:53.039 --> 00:02:57.520 miriramacologists done. Now this ologist I had followed on Twitter 54 00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.240 for months and months and months and months, and our 55 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.319 schedules never were quite aligned to do an episode. And 56 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.560 finally he was back from the rainforest on a sunny 57 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:08.560 Sunday afternoon, and I was so excited to sit down 58 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:11.080 and chat. So he spends part of his time in 59 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:15.360 the rainforest of Costa Rica studying tropical ants, and is 60 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:20.000 also a biology professor at cal State University. Domingus Hills, 61 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:24.360 which has over ten thousand students, seventy percent of whom 62 00:03:24.439 --> 00:03:28.199 are first generation college students. I think that is awesome. 63 00:03:28.520 --> 00:03:32.039 Now the result of this is a whole nest of 64 00:03:32.120 --> 00:03:37.439 facts about invasive species and colony communications and the bizarre 65 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.280 genetics of queen ants, and why army ants are your 66 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:45.080 new squad and what it really really really feels like 67 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:47.800 like for real, to get stung by a bullet ant? 68 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:51.000 Isn't that bad? And what we can learn about our 69 00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:54.680 own strength and work ethic from these lovely ladies and 70 00:03:54.759 --> 00:03:58.919 some dudes we call ants. So get ready make a beeline, 71 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:03.199 make an ant line for this chat with Mrmacologist doctor 72 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:04.360 Terry McGlenn. 73 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:26.199 Yes, did I say it right? Mycologistsmacology? I think, well, 74 00:04:26.279 --> 00:04:30.120 like all these words, there's no proper way of saying it, 75 00:04:30.120 --> 00:04:33.600 it's just the ones that are socially acceptable among people 76 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:34.040 who do. 77 00:04:34.639 --> 00:04:34.680 So. 78 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:37.120 You can't say a word wrong, You just say a 79 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:38.720 word different than other people say. 80 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:41.360 Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, how long have you been 81 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:42.360 a murrmacologist? 82 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.959 I started working on ants in nineteen ninety four when 83 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:51.560 I started grad school. So a minute, Yeah, so that's 84 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:52.279 a couple decades. 85 00:04:52.360 --> 00:04:55.680 Right level decades of ants, not literally under your belt, 86 00:04:55.920 --> 00:05:00.439 in your pants, but just in your life. Well was 87 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:01.519 it about antser? 88 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:03.680 So I realized, Okay, this is the one question that 89 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:05.279 I knew you're going to ask, was why did you 90 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.759 work on answer? When I was in college, I started 91 00:05:07.800 --> 00:05:10.879 out as a psychology philosophy double major, and then I 92 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:15.079 ended up being like pre med. Although I even interviewed 93 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.439 at med school, took the mcat, the whole thing. I 94 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.600 have no idea why. But then I had this epiphany 95 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:22.439 when I was flying home for my first med school interview, 96 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:23.959 and I'm like, this is not what I want to do. 97 00:05:24.439 --> 00:05:26.519 These people are not my people. I don't want to 98 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:29.519 do that for a living. And the whole time in 99 00:05:29.560 --> 00:05:35.199 college I was taking all these courses about organismal biology, ecology, evolution, conservation. 100 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:39.000 I was auditing a class in insect biology, and I 101 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:42.240 was like, well, that's what I think is really cool. Actually, 102 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:43.600 So before. 103 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.839 Getting his PhD in Colorado, Terry majored in biology for 104 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:51.639 undergrad at Occidental College, Obama's alma mater here in LA 105 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:55.120 And when he was thinking about grad school, he was 106 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:58.319 considering Europe, and he ended up interviewing with a Swiss 107 00:05:58.360 --> 00:06:02.879 professor who studied ants. He even flew out to interview, 108 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:05.319 the first time he'd ever left the country. Now, in 109 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.920 the end, he didn't study at that lab, but the 110 00:06:08.040 --> 00:06:11.319 experience of emailing back and forth with this Swiss dude 111 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.360 unveiled the tiny, wonderful world of mere mycology and. 112 00:06:16.360 --> 00:06:18.800 It seemed really, really, really cool. And so after that 113 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:20.680 I decided, Wow, I want to work on the evolution 114 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.839 of social behavior in insects and answer you know, you know, 115 00:06:24.959 --> 00:06:27.839 use social insects ants that have this colonial lifestyle. 116 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:32.079 Now, let's unpack this really quick. Do you think having 117 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:36.399 an interest in social science and philosophy plus a little 118 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:41.000 biology interest like those were married perfectly in a social insect? 119 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:45.319 Maybe because I think my interest originally, like you know, 120 00:06:45.439 --> 00:06:49.639 the angsty teenager that just went to college, we're interested in, well, 121 00:06:49.680 --> 00:06:52.759 what makes us human? I was wondering, and I still wonder, like, 122 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:55.399 how is it that we are? Wait? We are that we? 123 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:58.079 You know, they think we feel, we love, we perceive, 124 00:06:58.600 --> 00:07:00.240 but we are just mere meat, Like we are just 125 00:07:00.240 --> 00:07:02.439 somehow this tissue of our brain is what we are. 126 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:05.600 I mean, that's just amazing to me that everything we 127 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.120 experience is that meat and it still is amazing to me, 128 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:09.959 and I think I wanted to study that, and I 129 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:12.360 realized I don't think neurobiology was there or is there 130 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:13.720 yet to do. 131 00:07:13.639 --> 00:07:15.839 That so quick as I At first I thought he 132 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:19.519 was saying mer me, as in like merely myself, But 133 00:07:19.600 --> 00:07:23.759 I think he's saying mere meat like that we're meat, 134 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.079 which is so much more metal. What a metal way 135 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:29.839 to look at our delicate existence, I approve. 136 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:35.639 And so I think what fascinates me about ants is 137 00:07:35.800 --> 00:07:37.879 it if you just look at it a different level 138 00:07:37.879 --> 00:07:41.000 of organization, like what is a what is an organism? 139 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:43.839 What is a super organism? What is an ant colony? 140 00:07:43.879 --> 00:07:47.040 How do you have something which is so well organized 141 00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:51.000 out of small pieces that are really really dumb. 142 00:07:51.879 --> 00:07:55.279 So many ants right now are sipping oat milk cortados 143 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:02.079 over the economist just being like wow, wow, oh really. 144 00:08:03.319 --> 00:08:06.360 Right, Like ants are really stupid, but colonies often do 145 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:09.759 complex tasks really well. I mean they have small little brains. 146 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.079 Walk me through a little bit of a colony. Because 147 00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:15.279 we had an episode on melotology bees and so we've 148 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.680 covered some social insects, but what are the similarities between 149 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.879 bees and ants? Are they all mostly women? Are they 150 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:26.959 all like driven by pheromones or behavior or vision, like 151 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:28.160 what's going on down there? 152 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:30.759 Yeah, So all kinds of bees are complex, just like 153 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:32.799 all kinds of ants are complex. So the way that 154 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.720 honey bees organize the division of labor and so that 155 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.919 thing where you do one task, then you get promoted 156 00:08:41.919 --> 00:08:43.799 to another task and you get promoted to another task. 157 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:46.080 That's called the temporal polyethism. 158 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.360 So that means at different times you do different things, 159 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:52.559 like your chores as a kid may have gone from 160 00:08:52.759 --> 00:08:56.039 feeding the cat to doing the laundry to driving your 161 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.559 siblings to school. Now, if your kids don't think you're 162 00:08:59.720 --> 00:09:02.600 enough of a douche, tell them that it's imperative that 163 00:09:02.600 --> 00:09:06.240 they engage in temporal polytheism to acquire their weekly stipend. 164 00:09:07.000 --> 00:09:09.080 That way they can talk about you to a therapist 165 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:10.120 later in life. 166 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:14.000 However, some ants might be more inclined to perform some 167 00:09:14.120 --> 00:09:17.399 tasks rather than others. Some ants are more generalists, some 168 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:18.679 are highly specialized. 169 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:23.279 WHOA, So there's like engineer ants and like architect ants, 170 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:25.360 and ones are like you know what, guys, I'm like 171 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.639 pretty good at finding seeds, So I'm just gonna do. 172 00:09:28.679 --> 00:09:33.320 That sort of But if you were to remove some 173 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.240 ants from the colony or add some from ants in 174 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:38.879 the colony, they might change their tasks. So some ants 175 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:42.840 have broad variety and body sizes. So, for instance, leaf 176 00:09:42.879 --> 00:09:44.919 cutter ants, you have these huge, huge ones with these 177 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:48.679 big heads. They're used for chopping stems and defending the colony, 178 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:50.919 for like when vertebrates attack, and you have these tiny, 179 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:53.679 tiny little ants that might tend the fungal garden and 180 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:56.600 ride on the leaves. And so the way that the 181 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:00.720 polymorphic ants divide labor and the way that monomorph ants 182 00:10:00.720 --> 00:10:03.159 divide labor is different. 183 00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.279 It's a little different. Yeah, Now what is your work 184 00:10:05.360 --> 00:10:07.360 like day to day? Do you? Here's what I picture, 185 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:10.200 tell me if I'm wrong. I picture that you work 186 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.399 in a lab and it's full of aquariums that are 187 00:10:12.440 --> 00:10:15.600 just big riding balls of ants, and you also have 188 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:18.480 a clipboard and maybe a lab coat, and then sometimes 189 00:10:18.519 --> 00:10:21.240 you're in the fields with a magnifying glass. Is any 190 00:10:21.279 --> 00:10:24.559 of that correct? No? Okay, just checking. 191 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.840 So I think my average workday is probably not that 192 00:10:27.840 --> 00:10:29.480 different from yours, which is like I'm sitting in front 193 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:33.279 of a laptop, okay, or I'm standing at my desk 194 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:35.440 or whatever, and so in the lab, I have a 195 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:38.279 bunch of ants, a ton of ants, but they're all dead. 196 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:41.879 Oh my god. Okay, what are they organized into like 197 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:44.440 a little tiny pins or are they just in like 198 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:45.679 shoe boxes? 199 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.600 So I have them in vials, and these vials would 200 00:10:48.600 --> 00:10:52.120 be packaged in racks, and these racks are on shelves, okay, 201 00:10:52.120 --> 00:10:54.639 and so so like if you know, visiting a museum, 202 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:56.879 then there's all these ants that are you know, mounting 203 00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:00.200 collections in pins, and so we when we mount ants 204 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:02.960 in museum collections, you glue them onto the tip of 205 00:11:03.000 --> 00:11:05.279 a little point and put the pin through that so 206 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:06.919 you can look at them, because if you put the 207 00:11:06.960 --> 00:11:08.600 pin through the ant, then it messes them up. 208 00:11:08.600 --> 00:11:10.559 So you yeah, that'd be like, that'd be like, oh, 209 00:11:10.600 --> 00:11:12.639 we just put a missile through alley, Like, yeah, it's 210 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.080 not you can't do that to an any Yeah. 211 00:11:15.080 --> 00:11:17.000 Well, even the really really big, chunky ants that you 212 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:19.440 could kind of do that too, by convention, we don't, Okay, 213 00:11:19.559 --> 00:11:21.519 I keep most of mine just sitting in alcohol from 214 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:23.519 the way I collected them, and most of the ants 215 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:27.879 that I've collected our whole colonies. Oh but these whole 216 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:32.320 colonies are really really tiny ones they like the they 217 00:11:32.360 --> 00:11:35.159 would easily fit inside a thimble, like they would occupy 218 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:38.360 like a two milli liter tube with tons of space 219 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:39.000 available there. 220 00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:41.919 I mean a whole colony is like two hundred bros 221 00:11:42.960 --> 00:11:43.519 or ladies. 222 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:45.679 Uh yeah, Like, well it depends. I mean, so some 223 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:48.799 colonies will just have like ten or twenty or thirty ants, 224 00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:51.320 and some might have hundreds. But even for these tiny 225 00:11:51.320 --> 00:11:53.679 little ones that I work with on the leaf litter 226 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:56.559 of the rainforest floor, the ants themselves are so tiny 227 00:11:56.559 --> 00:11:58.440 that a colony of a couple hundred ants will still 228 00:11:58.440 --> 00:11:59.919 fit into a tiny little tube. 229 00:12:00.120 --> 00:12:02.120 That's crazy because these. 230 00:12:01.960 --> 00:12:03.159 Are unspeakably tiny. 231 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:05.919 How did you get involved with the tiniest ants? Were 232 00:12:05.960 --> 00:12:08.759 you like, I have great vision, ergo, I will work 233 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:12.279 with the tiny ants now Uh. 234 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:14.960 Well, no, as actually, and so now I just started worrying, 235 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.759 like the progressive lenses. Hey, So it's like, uh so 236 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:20.840 when I'm out in the field with students, like they're 237 00:12:20.879 --> 00:12:23.559 seeing things that I literally cannot see. 238 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:28.159 Microscopic micro machine, micro machine, the micro machine pocket place 239 00:12:28.200 --> 00:12:29.159 that's sold simply from gloog. 240 00:12:29.320 --> 00:12:30.960 The smaller they are, the better they are. 241 00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:36.200 So for his dissertation, Terry worked with Wasmania oropunk tata. 242 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:38.639 I don't know if I'm saying that right. So let's 243 00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:41.399 just call them little fire ants because that's their name 244 00:12:41.720 --> 00:12:44.240 unless you're from down. 245 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.080 Although in Australia they call it the electric ant. And 246 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:52.000 these ants are like a couple millimeters long and so 247 00:12:52.320 --> 00:12:54.840 really really tiny and if they sting you, it feels 248 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.639 like a little pink print, and which is amazing something 249 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.159 that talk can actually small can hurt you. I know. Oh, 250 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:03.639 most ants are really tiny. A lot of them are 251 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:04.559 just that small. 252 00:13:05.159 --> 00:13:08.600 I'm so little, like smaller than the ones that we 253 00:13:08.679 --> 00:13:13.000 see trying to eat like a watermelon rind on the countertop. 254 00:13:13.320 --> 00:13:15.440 Right. Yeah, so here in La the ones that you have, 255 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:17.559 I don't know if you get them in your place, 256 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:21.120 but the argentine ants, people think of the that's the 257 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:24.759 common invasive species found in Mediterranean climates or whatnot, the 258 00:13:24.759 --> 00:13:27.279 one that was taking over my kitchen last week. 259 00:13:27.519 --> 00:13:30.080 Oh no, oh my god, what did you do because 260 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:34.519 you're like a godfather to them? Did you commit mass anticide? 261 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:37.320 Yeah? Well, actually, uh, I've wiped off the ones off 262 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:37.720 the counter. 263 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:40.600 No, how dare you? 264 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.000 But but then I just blocked the entrance off, so 265 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:45.120 it's not like I need to kill I wasn't trying 266 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:46.759 to kill them all off. I just kept them from 267 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:48.759 getting in. So like I have, like you know, the 268 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:50.840 cock gun ready to go, and I keep finding a 269 00:13:50.840 --> 00:13:54.320 new space where they So it's like the evolutionary arms 270 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:56.360 race is them finding new ways to get in me 271 00:13:56.480 --> 00:13:57.559 calking that spot. 272 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:00.399 So now that is one thing you can do if 273 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.559 you don't want to just like send in a poisoned 274 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:06.360 cake and be like kill off your whole colony. That's 275 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:08.759 a nice thing to do. So side note. As a 276 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:12.200 college sophomore, I lived in my first house with friends. 277 00:14:12.559 --> 00:14:15.320 Everyone was pretty goth and got along, but one of 278 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:20.159 my roommates was very very stony boloney like a lot, 279 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:23.840 which was so endearing. And we had an ant infestation 280 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.879 and he told me all about these things called Grant's 281 00:14:26.919 --> 00:14:29.600 ant sticks. They're these baits that you soak in hot 282 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:32.000 water and then you set out and he explained to 283 00:14:32.039 --> 00:14:33.440 me like this. 284 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.200 Like all right, okay, like if you were so hungry, 285 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.279 right and you found like twenty pizzas and you took 286 00:14:38.320 --> 00:14:41.600 me to your friends and you were like shit, you guys, pizzas, 287 00:14:41.600 --> 00:14:44.480 this rules and everyone's like what was the best And 288 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:48.360 then but the pizzas like poisoned everyone. It's like so tight. 289 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:52.480 I've never forgotten this tutorial. And I'll be honest, I 290 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.000 have used these ant baits every time I've had an infestation, 291 00:14:56.120 --> 00:14:59.320 and I felt so bad about it, like I'm the 292 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:02.399 villain in their action movie. But it does work for 293 00:15:02.440 --> 00:15:03.080 a while. 294 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:06.240 Right, Yeah, but it's also really really good. That's only 295 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:08.879 going to be a short term solution anyway, because even 296 00:15:08.919 --> 00:15:11.320 if you get the toxic bait that they'll take and 297 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:13.919 bring back, which you know, could be effective, but the 298 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:17.200 thing is that's going to kill them off for a while, 299 00:15:17.399 --> 00:15:19.080 but eventually there's going to be some that are just 300 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:21.960 moving back because you can't eliminate ants from the entire neighborhood. 301 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.360 And the way these it's essentially, you know, for the 302 00:15:24.360 --> 00:15:27.240 most part, it's like one big whole colony, super colony 303 00:15:27.279 --> 00:15:28.480 all throughout the LA area. 304 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:33.159 No, yeah, wait a minute, Okay, So these Argentinian ants 305 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.320 which are invasive, and they're the tiny, like not tiny, 306 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:40.080 but they're the small, little black ones that invade your kitchen. Yeah, 307 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:43.039 I know that they kind of have outpaced harvester ants, 308 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.759 which are the bigger, kind of like a amborie color 309 00:15:45.799 --> 00:15:46.879 ones that live in the hills. 310 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:49.960 Right, Yeah, wh's people call red ants? Yeah, the harvest rants. 311 00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.679 Yeah, but there it just kind of spans one big 312 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:56.600 colony under the city for. 313 00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:58.639 The most part, or occupying the whole city. 314 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:03.480 This blew my mind. If your friend moves ten miles 315 00:16:03.519 --> 00:16:06.360 away in LA, you will never see each other again, 316 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.919 like burbank to who that is a forever goodbye, just 317 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:15.399 move on. But for ants, they're all essentially roommates. The 318 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.240 Argentine ants, the little ones that are invasive species but 319 00:16:18.320 --> 00:16:22.080 have like pretty lax dietary tastes, the lead almost anything. 320 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:26.519 They have a California colony that stretches five hundred and 321 00:16:26.559 --> 00:16:30.639 sixty miles, which is nothing compared to one colony in 322 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:35.519 southern Europe thirty seven hundred miles. Big billions of sisters. 323 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.159 So it's no wonder that the harvest or ants, with 324 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:42.240 their kind of picky diet of locally harvested seeds are 325 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.960 getting smoked by their Argentine relatives. 326 00:16:45.320 --> 00:16:47.919 The last I know, there's one big super colony. So 327 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:49.320 if we were to get ants in one part of 328 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:51.600 LA and move them to another part of LA, they'll 329 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:53.720 be a hey, sister, how's it going and accept them 330 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:55.360 just like the members of the same colony. 331 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:57.080 Wow, that's so weird. 332 00:16:57.360 --> 00:16:58.799 And so if you're to grab ants and put them 333 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:00.799 in a vial and then go one hundred miles two 334 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.320 hundred miles, either they'll get along or they don't. And 335 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:05.240 if they don't, that means that you've hit a new 336 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:08.759 super colony. And you can tell where the border between 337 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:11.880 the super colonies is because there's like a line of 338 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:13.640 dead ants on the ground where they just go to 339 00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:17.440 war no cool labunnas, Yeah, are you kidding me? And 340 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:21.440 they're just constantly fighting. But there's one large supercolony that 341 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:25.000 has taken over most of LA. 342 00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:27.519 And they're all in the same family. So now even 343 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:31.200 if they're the same species, they'll have a battleground. They'll 344 00:17:31.240 --> 00:17:32.640 be like a line of death. 345 00:17:33.039 --> 00:17:37.039 Well yeah, so in general for ants, their biggest enemy 346 00:17:37.640 --> 00:17:40.359 is another colony of the same species. 347 00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:42.960 Oh it's like humans, Yeah exactly. Is that like a 348 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:46.759 lot of social animals, like they operate as such one 349 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:50.319 massive super organism that like their biggest predator really is 350 00:17:50.359 --> 00:17:51.200 their own species. 351 00:17:51.519 --> 00:17:54.599 Well, I would say their biggest predator, but their biggest competitor, yeah, right, 352 00:17:54.599 --> 00:17:56.359 Because the thing is, I mean, so if they're you know, 353 00:17:56.359 --> 00:17:59.440 because if the species has a niche and they're nesting 354 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:02.000 in a particular environment, and they're consuming the same kind 355 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.119 of food and they need the same environmental requirements, then 356 00:18:05.160 --> 00:18:07.880 of course if there's another colony that's just like you, 357 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.359 that has the same environmental requirements, then they're your biggest competition. 358 00:18:11.839 --> 00:18:13.240 How many species of ants are there? 359 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:19.240 I think described we might be up the twelve thousand dish. 360 00:18:19.319 --> 00:18:21.160 I think the estimates and people say there's probably about 361 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:23.400 twenty thousand, but maybe about half of them aren't described, 362 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:24.920 Like we haven't put names to them yet. 363 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:28.160 So if you want to be a meremacologist, just know 364 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:32.920 that eight thousand species of ants are like notice me, please, 365 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.160 I'm right here. They're begging you to be an ant scientist, 366 00:18:37.400 --> 00:18:39.920 but they probably don't know the part about putting some 367 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:42.920 of their friends in jars. Even though it's to identify 368 00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:46.960 and save ant kind, it seems like a difficult task 369 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:49.880 for ant lovers, Like I love you, I kill you. 370 00:18:50.480 --> 00:18:52.640 I love you, but I kill you. Do you have 371 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:53.680 a favorite species of ant? 372 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.279 Be honest, it's hard. I mean, I guess one of 373 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:00.319 my favorites are the bulldog ants in Australia. The mamisi. Yeah, 374 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:02.960 what I have to say, Well, so they're really big 375 00:19:03.240 --> 00:19:05.720 and they have these bulging eyes, but they're one of 376 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:09.400 the few ants they almost act like a vertebrate like 377 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:11.440 most ants if you mess with their calling, even like 378 00:19:11.480 --> 00:19:14.200 the big bullet ants that I work with and whatnot, 379 00:19:14.200 --> 00:19:16.240 that they sort of just run around and get upset 380 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:18.480 and like, oh I might sting you. Oh look I'm feerce, 381 00:19:18.759 --> 00:19:21.519 or they'll freak out or run away. But the bulldog ants, 382 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.160 they'll just send a few ants up out of their 383 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.240 nest and they'll look at you and just open their 384 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:28.880 mandibles and be like I see you. It's like what 385 00:19:29.160 --> 00:19:31.599 it's like, they're just yeah, they just stand up and 386 00:19:31.720 --> 00:19:33.799 it's like it's like an intimidation thing. And also they 387 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:36.039 have a really painful sting. So I mean they're actually, 388 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:39.799 you know, honestly advertising how badass they are. 389 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:47.519 So bulldog ants actually mad dog. Now, Okay, explain to 390 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:49.680 me a little bit about the social behavior, because I 391 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:52.599 think that's one thing that people are just like mesmerized 392 00:19:52.640 --> 00:19:55.359 by ants because they have this social behavior. They have 393 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:57.960 these tiny little brains. How do they do it? Is 394 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:02.200 it all through pheromones? Like, is it just innate, what's like, 395 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:03.319 what is even happening here? 396 00:20:03.480 --> 00:20:08.839 Yeah, I mean so clearly. Ants communicate with chemicals a lot. 397 00:20:08.920 --> 00:20:11.359 Chemicals are a huge, big part of their communication, I 398 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.440 mean visual inputs for the most part. There are some 399 00:20:13.559 --> 00:20:16.359 blind ants, ones that live underground usually don't advise or 400 00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:18.839 don't use them or whatever. But we're still working out 401 00:20:18.839 --> 00:20:22.880