1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My name 2 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and today we're 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:12,800 Speaker 1: bringing you an episode from the vault of This is 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: AUNT War's Part three, originally aired June eighth. Let's release 5 00:00:18,239 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: the ants Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind production 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:33,440 Speaker 1: of My Heart Radio. Hey you welcome to Stuff to 7 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 8 00:00:36,159 --> 00:00:39,040 Speaker 1: Joe McCormick, and we're back with part three of our 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: Aunt Wars episodes. Now. In the previous episodes, we've already 10 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: covered a ton of different topics, the evolution of you 11 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:49,880 Speaker 1: social insects like ants um. We talked about the conflicts 12 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: between army, ants and and everything in their path. We 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,680 Speaker 1: talked about theories of combat disparities and how those may 14 00:00:56,720 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: apply to ants and and control the ways that's Aunt 15 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: sometimes select which members of the colony go out to fight. 16 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: We talked about the bivouax, the big war rig for 17 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: the Queen made out of army ants um. It's been 18 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: it's been a great journey so far, but we have 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: to press on. That's right. Uh So, one thing I 20 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 1: want to talk about it at the very start here 21 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: is the idea of empires of the ants, because, as 22 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: with human civilizations, apparently it's the larger ant societies that 23 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 1: spread the most violence. Smaller ant societies are less likely 24 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 1: to engage in any kind of protracted war against other 25 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: ant species. But but here's an interesting point raised by 26 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: entomologists Shawn O'Donnell in Ant Wars for Serious Science. Some 27 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 1: species of highly successful invasive ants demonstrate unicolonality. Uh. They 28 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: develop a willingness to identify members of other colonies as 29 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: part of their own, and the result is a super colony, 30 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,720 Speaker 1: a true empire of the ants. Yeah, we discussed the 31 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 1: super colony adaptation in our episode. It's about the multiple 32 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,559 Speaker 1: species of ants known as crazy ants, and this name 33 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: comes from their rapid, almost frantic or radic looking movements 34 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: sometimes when you like, if you watch video of them 35 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: moving around on the ground, it almost looks like flies 36 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 1: buzzing around. It looks like they're flying. Yeah, it's it's 37 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:21,799 Speaker 1: it's visually, at least to us, starkly different from the 38 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: sort of you know, linear lines were used to seeing 39 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,520 Speaker 1: for ants. Yeah, but the super coloniality issue came up 40 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: in our episodes on the Mystery of Crazy ants supposedly 41 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,240 Speaker 1: being attracted to electricity or electrical appliances. Remember that where 42 00:02:35,280 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: we're talking about all those stories people had of like 43 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 1: the their TV being full of crazy ants and people 44 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: didn't know why that was happening. That was, of course 45 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 1: the raspberry crazy ant of the genus Nylanderia, and then 46 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: we also talked about them in our episodes on Christmas Island. 47 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:53,200 Speaker 1: Remember it was the invasive species of crazy ant known 48 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: as yellow crazy ants or anoplo Lepis grass sillipps that 49 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: was severely threatening the Christmas Island crabs. It was actually 50 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: colonies of those ants that were spraying formic acid into 51 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: the eyes of the crabs and into the leg joints 52 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: until they were immobilized and then the ants just eat them. 53 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: And there was an interesting project to try to introduce 54 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: a species of insect there to Christmas Island that would 55 00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: help cut down on the populations of invasive ants. But anyway, 56 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: it's the tendency for crazy ants to form super colonies 57 00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:29,920 Speaker 1: that is considered one factor in their success as an 58 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: invasive species. Um you know, so they're super colonial, meaning 59 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: that when colonies of the same species meet one another, 60 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: instead of duking it out and going to battle with 61 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: one another. They just act as if they were from 62 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: the same colony. They team up instead of antagonizing one another. 63 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: UM and there are examples where people think they've detected 64 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,880 Speaker 1: gigantic super colonies of these ants. One that we read 65 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 1: in one of those previous episodes was a New York 66 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: Times article that that quotes Edward Lebrun, who's in a 67 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: college US at the University of Texas at Austin UM, 68 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,480 Speaker 1: and he apparently believes that there was a single super 69 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: colony in the Texas town called Iowa Colony. I know 70 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: that's confusing because we're talking about ant colonies and it's 71 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 1: in Texas, not Iowa, but that's a town it's called 72 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: Iowa Colony, and he believes that there was a super 73 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: colony of crazy ants occupying up to forty two hundred 74 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: acres in that town and spreading two hundred meters a 75 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,680 Speaker 1: year in every direction. But that's by no means the 76 00:04:29,720 --> 00:04:32,600 Speaker 1: only Aunt super colony that's been found there. There are 77 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,560 Speaker 1: other species and other super colonies that have been found 78 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: all over the continents. That's right. Mark W. Moten mentioned 79 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,160 Speaker 1: an extremely large super colony of Argentine Aunt that ranges 80 00:04:43,200 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: from San Francisco to the Mexican border. Trillion strong and united. 81 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,839 Speaker 1: It's a it's a super colony, and wars rage just 82 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:56,000 Speaker 1: perpetually along its borders. He writes. Each month, millions of 83 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: Argentine ants die along battlefronts that extend for miles around 84 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: San Diego. Clashes occur with three other colonies and wars 85 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,359 Speaker 1: that may have been going on since the species arrived 86 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:10,280 Speaker 1: in the state a century ago. And these wars, as 87 00:05:10,279 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: we've discussed in our previous episodes, are far from random 88 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:17,479 Speaker 1: thrashings of aunt brutality. Uh. These are wars that align 89 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 1: with some of the same mathematics and tactics and principles 90 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: that we see a play in human military history. And 91 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: we have another example of this to consider, another interesting 92 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: parallel that's drawn between the wars of ants and the 93 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: wars of humans, and that is uh, the the the 94 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,479 Speaker 1: this thing that we refer to as ant tournaments or 95 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:42,039 Speaker 1: AUNT tournament sites. So for starters, you might need to 96 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: dismiss whatever sort of Mortal Kombat scenario is entering your 97 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: mind here at the thought of an ant tournament. Yeah, 98 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,520 Speaker 1: but don't worry, because the reality is much cooler than 99 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,360 Speaker 1: just like a single or double elimination tournament for ance. Uh. 100 00:05:56,440 --> 00:05:59,920 Speaker 1: So here's the here's an example that MafA Eo will 101 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: Sin and others bring up frequently, and that is honey 102 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: pot ants. Now, these ants are astonishing creatures in their 103 00:06:05,839 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: own right, even before you get to the tournament issue. Uh. 104 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: Their their way of storing food is something that you 105 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:14,799 Speaker 1: must see for yourself. You you you should look up video 106 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: of them. Yeah, because their name honey pot ants. Because 107 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: what happens is the workers will the workers have the 108 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: ability to gorge themselves unto their abdomens are enormously swelled 109 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,280 Speaker 1: and they look like little honey pots, uh, just filled 110 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: with liquid food. So instead of storing excess food within 111 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: a stash within the colony like a lot of ants do, uh, 112 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: the honey pot ants store it within themselves in these 113 00:06:40,720 --> 00:06:45,440 Speaker 1: little mobile depositories that are themselves and swollen workers that 114 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: we call repleats. And then if if you're another aunt 115 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:50,919 Speaker 1: in the colony you need a little food, will you 116 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:52,880 Speaker 1: come up to one of the repletes uh? And I 117 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:54,880 Speaker 1: believe you, like you can touch their antenna and just 118 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,920 Speaker 1: the right way and they'll regurgitate up some food for you. Right, 119 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: You you you you poke your estimate and it will 120 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:04,200 Speaker 1: barf up your dinner. Yeah, they're like little vending machines. 121 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: Ah and I see you included a picture of this 122 00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: in our in our notes here for me to look at, Joe. 123 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,520 Speaker 1: They're wondrous, They're beautiful. They do look like little drugs. 124 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 1: They're so swollen they look on droplets of honey or 125 00:07:16,280 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 1: like extremely golden chickpeas their their back lid in this 126 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: image that I've shared with Robert, and it makes their 127 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 1: swollen abdomens look like bits of amber. Now, in addition 128 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,160 Speaker 1: to this, there are there are other wrinkles to their 129 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: their peculiarity. So they're highly territorial. They frequently prey on 130 00:07:34,120 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: foraging termites, and should two different groups of honeypot ants 131 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:42,800 Speaker 1: happen upon the same resource, a tournament begins to determine 132 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: who shall claim it. So what happens is the workers 133 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,360 Speaker 1: from each colony circle around each other, standing up as 134 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 1: high as possible on their legs. Behavior that biot is 135 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: called stilting. So yes, what they're doing is they're trying 136 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: to look as imposing as possible, as large as possible. 137 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 1: And basically, the idea here seems to be that that 138 00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: that the larger colonies of honey pot ants tend to 139 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:10,080 Speaker 1: have larger individuals. So it's not only a show of 140 00:08:10,240 --> 00:08:12,680 Speaker 1: immediate force, like hey, look how big we are to 141 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:16,520 Speaker 1: get away from our resources. It's also a show of 142 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: what kind of backup forces you have to call in. 143 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: That's interesting. So it's just like you can almost count 144 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: on the fact that if if this ant is big, 145 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: all of her buddies are big too. Yeah. It actually 146 00:08:28,920 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: reminds me a little bit of the Imperial invasion of 147 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: hot and the Empire strikes back with the deployment of 148 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: those enormous A T eighties, which I recently saw described 149 00:08:39,120 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: online as quote a giant impractical terror weapon. Absolutely, Why 150 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: the legs? Why make your all terrain attack vehicles so 151 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,000 Speaker 1: vulnerable to a simple harpoon and tow cable? These these 152 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,840 Speaker 1: tall spindle legs make no sense. Well, yeah, if you 153 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: think too hard about it. But as my my son 154 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:00,319 Speaker 1: was recently telling me, we were watching the Own War 155 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:03,480 Speaker 1: series and he said, you know, walkers are just always cool. 156 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,400 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter which side they're on. They're just cool. 157 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,880 Speaker 1: And it's true. But but I think also you can 158 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,079 Speaker 1: look at it like, yes, it's a it's an impractical 159 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: terror weapon. It sends a message, Hey, we're the Empire 160 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: and we have resources on this scale at our disposal, 161 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: so you'd best just abandoned the ice planet to us. 162 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: And so that's what the weaker honeypot at force ends 163 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: up doing this whole tournament. Uh practice limits the need 164 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,920 Speaker 1: for conflict and avoids the need for full scale and war. 165 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,599 Speaker 1: The smaller ant army flees, but much like the rebel alliance, 166 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: they have to be darn sure that the forces there 167 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,160 Speaker 1: uh they're seeding to don't follow them and trace them 168 00:09:42,280 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: to their primary base, because the larger honeypot force will 169 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: attempt to do this and they will not hesitate to 170 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,960 Speaker 1: follow them back to their colony, decimate that colony, and 171 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:57,640 Speaker 1: then enslave the swollen repletes as their own food stores. Now, 172 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: this is really interesting, the idea that they they make 173 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:03,240 Speaker 1: this display and try to make a calculation about whether 174 00:10:03,320 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: it's worthwhile to fight. It's something that goes against the 175 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: naive version of the nature red in tooth and claw 176 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: idea that you know, animals are just always fighting and 177 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: killing each other. It's always a violent struggle for survival. 178 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: I don't know how you could quantify this, but my 179 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: gut feeling is that the vast majority of conflicts in 180 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:27,040 Speaker 1: nature never come to violence. There are displays between animals 181 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,520 Speaker 1: and then one side backs down. Yeah, I believe we've 182 00:10:30,520 --> 00:10:34,520 Speaker 1: talked about this before and discussing like animal weapons and 183 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:38,080 Speaker 1: animal violence. Is that, you know, how often does one 184 00:10:38,160 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: animal outright kill another? You know it? I mean certainly 185 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:45,040 Speaker 1: in from predation, Yeah, apart from predation. Like the idea 186 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 1: of two animals fighting to the death in a scenario 187 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:50,680 Speaker 1: where one is not trying to eat the other is 188 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: is more of a rarity. But even so, It's like 189 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: if you have a t rex and a triceratops, Like 190 00:10:56,360 --> 00:10:59,560 Speaker 1: the t rex wants to kill the the triceratops in 191 00:10:59,559 --> 00:11:02,199 Speaker 1: this scenario EO, but it of course does not want 192 00:11:02,240 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: to be killed itself the you know, so it would 193 00:11:06,320 --> 00:11:08,719 Speaker 1: potentially fight to the death. But on the other hand, 194 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 1: they try sterotops doesn't want to eat the t rex. 195 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: It just wants to not be eaten by the t rex. Yeah, 196 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it just brings to mind the fact that 197 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: animals they don't want to lose a conflict, but probably 198 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: even more than that, they don't want to die, and 199 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,600 Speaker 1: so if if things are not looking like a like 200 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: a pretty clear wind for them, they will very often 201 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: just back down and try to get away. Now EO. 202 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: Wilson and biologists Burnt a Whole Dobbler have have compared 203 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: this tournament scenario to these symbolic battles and the Highlands 204 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: of New Guinea, the initial phase of of of a 205 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:46,160 Speaker 1: battle or war in which the two sides square off 206 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,680 Speaker 1: at a distance, and what they'll do. Yeah, this so 207 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:50,839 Speaker 1: the scrap at a distance. They're not going to immediately, 208 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: you know, rush into each other like some sort of 209 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 1: brave heart scenario that's cinematic um trope that we all 210 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: have grown so used to. Instead, they're gonna throw o spears. 211 00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:04,040 Speaker 1: They're gonna fire arrows at each other, but with range 212 00:12:04,600 --> 00:12:07,600 Speaker 1: in wooden shields in place, so there's actually like a 213 00:12:07,600 --> 00:12:13,560 Speaker 1: a low possibility for fatality. And from here it might 214 00:12:13,640 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: give way to a heated, closer battle, but the its 215 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,600 Speaker 1: aggressions might actually end right here. And this apparently is 216 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,880 Speaker 1: something that one sees throughout the history of human conflict, 217 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 1: especially when it concerns smaller clans of fighters, because such 218 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: groups like this simply don't have the resources to enter 219 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:36,400 Speaker 1: freely into a state of total warfare. Yeah, I think 220 00:12:36,440 --> 00:12:39,240 Speaker 1: that state is more common, as we were talking about earlier, 221 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,040 Speaker 1: in in like larger empires, where you also have you know, 222 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: the army that arrives on the battlefield also has the 223 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: force of like a huge state behind it that will 224 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,360 Speaker 1: not let it walk away. It's a you know that 225 00:12:51,360 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: that maybe the emperor back home is not going to 226 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: be pleased if you see that this battle doesn't look 227 00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: good for you and decide it's better not to fight, Yes, 228 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: you'll find that he's not as forgiving, right. So Yeah, 229 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:06,200 Speaker 1: I think this is obviously a smart strategy, and there's 230 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:08,719 Speaker 1: a reason humans do this and ants do this. It 231 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: makes sense to try to avoid conflict if you can. 232 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: I also can't help but wonder if there's a comparison 233 00:13:14,440 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: to be made here. And this is just me, this 234 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: is not any of these other commentators that I've read. 235 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: They might have gotten into this, and maybe I just 236 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:22,800 Speaker 1: haven't read it, But I wonder if you can make 237 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: a comparison here to the proxy wars between superpowers in 238 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: the human world. You know, human cases in which each 239 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: side certainly has immense resources, but in which case the 240 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: destructive potential of atomic weaponry essentially reduces both sides to smaller, 241 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: more vulnerable clans on their respective hillsides. There was something 242 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,600 Speaker 1: I was trying to look up because this also made 243 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 1: me think of the at least epic literary tradition of 244 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: the champion warfare. That is, you know that you read 245 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,000 Speaker 1: about it in the Iliad. It shows up actually in 246 00:13:57,000 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: a lot of of ancient epics and stuff where armies 247 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: will meet, but instead of you know, the whole armies 248 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: clashing with one another, they will each select their greatest 249 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:09,160 Speaker 1: fighter and then those two will fight a duel that 250 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:13,120 Speaker 1: is supposed to, at least in some cases, symbolically settle 251 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: the outcome of the fight. So I think of Hector 252 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,560 Speaker 1: versus Achilles, and I was looking for example. I was like, 253 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:22,040 Speaker 1: do aunts ever do this? So I was trying to 254 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:25,560 Speaker 1: find examples of champion warfare among ants, but I couldn't 255 00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:28,160 Speaker 1: find anything. I don't know if you've come across anything 256 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:30,720 Speaker 1: like that, But if there were an example of something 257 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: like that, that would be really interesting, that would man that. Yeah, 258 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: I didn't read anything about that in the sources I 259 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,440 Speaker 1: was looking at it. I wonder how that would have 260 00:14:41,520 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: something like that would evolve. You know, it's kind of 261 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: hard to imagine being a real state of affairs without 262 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: I don't know, I guess symbolic thinking among I mean, 263 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: maybe that is something that would be limited. I mean, 264 00:14:55,280 --> 00:14:57,840 Speaker 1: it's even more than that. It seems like something that's 265 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: more limited to epic poetry and storytelling than than happens 266 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,480 Speaker 1: in real life. Right. It kind of brings maybe it's 267 00:15:05,480 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: the kind of story that makes the most sense for 268 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,400 Speaker 1: people that are so centered on the individual, you know, 269 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: like here is the individual in the war, the individual 270 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: that is changing the course of the battle, that sort 271 00:15:16,320 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: of thing um, and it enables you to to take 272 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: larger scenarios of battle that are more difficult to fathom 273 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:26,160 Speaker 1: and putting them in a one on one scenario, like 274 00:15:26,200 --> 00:15:28,080 Speaker 1: in the last episode we were talking about the Lanchester 275 00:15:28,160 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 1: square law. You know, we can you know, we can 276 00:15:30,280 --> 00:15:33,240 Speaker 1: certainly imagine that in our head with forces of on 277 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: one side versus the other. But then you can also 278 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:38,040 Speaker 1: put it in the scenario of David and Goliath, right, 279 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: and there you instantly have this very individual based story 280 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:46,240 Speaker 1: of smaller force and larger force. Even though it tells 281 00:15:46,360 --> 00:15:48,600 Speaker 1: it ultimately tells the story like if we were to 282 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: take that and extrapolate it to just a smaller force 283 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:55,240 Speaker 1: against a larger force, uh per those laws we were discussing, 284 00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: that makes no sense. Like ultimately the the Goliath force 285 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: is going to win unless they is some sort of 286 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: crazy you know, outside context event, right or well, I 287 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: mean it depends on conditions, right, because not all combat 288 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 1: is equivalent. But yeah, generally, all right, on that note, 289 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 1: we're going to take a quick break. But when we 290 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: come back, we will get into some of these specialized 291 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: units of the ant war than all right, we're back, Robert. 292 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,960 Speaker 1: When you were a kid, did you get one of 293 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,240 Speaker 1: those Star Wars visual encyclopedias and just like a devour 294 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: all of the different types of Star Wars stormtroopers that 295 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:35,960 Speaker 1: we never saw in the movies. Because in the movies 296 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: you see the main storm troopers. You see the ones 297 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: in the snow with like the big robes and capes. 298 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,360 Speaker 1: Almost I guess that's to keep warm or something. But 299 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 1: then I remember reading about these other types that never 300 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:49,920 Speaker 1: show up in the movies, like lava troopers or something. 301 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: I don't know. Did you never read about this? Uh No, 302 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 1: I've never heard of lava troopers? Um? I mean, I'm trying, 303 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,720 Speaker 1: I'm only vaguely remembering, but it seemed very interesting to me. 304 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: I was like, why isn't there a movie about that? 305 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,080 Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's drawing on the idea that, of course, 306 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: you would have different types of specialized units for different terrain. Yeah, 307 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: I uh, Star Wars specific I never had that book, 308 00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: but certainly, just by virtue of being into like miniature 309 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: war games and even even you know, plenty of games 310 00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: I don't play or collecting, I love to just pour 311 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:22,920 Speaker 1: over the army list, like, Okay, here are your here 312 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: your ranking files, and okay, here your specialist. Here you're 313 00:17:25,840 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: you're fast moving troops. Here are you're heavy troops. Here 314 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 1: are you're infiltration units. Here you're close combat units. There's 315 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:38,359 Speaker 1: there's something, um yeah, just just endlessly appealing about about 316 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 1: going through the rank and file of a system like that. Totally. Uh. 317 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,400 Speaker 1: And of course it shouldn't come as any surprise that 318 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: many different kinds of ants have their own specialized units. Yes, absolutely, 319 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,000 Speaker 1: so we're gonna discuss some of these. We're not gonna 320 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: be of course, We're not gonna be able to really 321 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: do justice to the entire rich diversity of the ant world, 322 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 1: you know, plenty of which is still being discovered and 323 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: is yet to be uh discovered by scientists. But we'll 324 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: touch on some highlights here that are known. So first 325 00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about specialized defenses. Uh. 326 00:18:08,720 --> 00:18:11,640 Speaker 1: You know, we've talked so much about offense with ants, uh, 327 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,439 Speaker 1: but but sometimes said there's this particular defensive strategy in 328 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:20,160 Speaker 1: mind as well. Zoologist and intomologist Shaun O'Donnell points out 329 00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: that leaf cutter ants and army ants are both dominant 330 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:25,920 Speaker 1: ants species, and when they wage war, those wars can 331 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: wait for days. So it's a it's a classic matchup 332 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,760 Speaker 1: in many respects, right, It's a you know, ravaging warriors 333 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,720 Speaker 1: on one side and foraging agriculturists on the other. Right, 334 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: So you would think of the army antsw is primarily 335 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:41,040 Speaker 1: like rating carnivores that are on the attack, and the 336 00:18:41,359 --> 00:18:45,760 Speaker 1: leaf cutter ants are there their cultivators of their environment. Right. Yeah, 337 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:49,240 Speaker 1: So leaf cutter ants most very famously depend on their workers. 338 00:18:49,320 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: They have to go out, they have to cut the 339 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: leaf portions, bring the leaf portions back, and then those 340 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: leaf portions are used to grow their precious food crop, 341 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: which is a fungus I believe, right, Yeah, fungus that 342 00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: is uh if I remember correctly extinct in the wild, 343 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,359 Speaker 1: is purely domesticated by ants long before humans came on 344 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,840 Speaker 1: the scene. Unbelievable. So it's mostly the work of these, 345 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,439 Speaker 1: you know, these female workers. But there they do have 346 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: a cast of larger soldiers, and apparently they were something 347 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: of a mystery for a while. Researchers would look at 348 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:21,119 Speaker 1: them and they would ask, what are these guys for. 349 00:19:21,200 --> 00:19:23,000 Speaker 1: They don't seem to be doing anything, They don't seem 350 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: to have a purpose. But by seating army and invasions 351 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,639 Speaker 1: in leaf cutter nests, researchers were able to discover that 352 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,640 Speaker 1: they seem to be specialists just for army ant invasions, 353 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,040 Speaker 1: sent to the front lines by the thousands, uh to 354 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,159 Speaker 1: in an attempt to defend the colony. Even though it 355 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: does seem like they tend to fail in the end. 356 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,879 Speaker 1: But I mean, even in cases where they fail, it's 357 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 1: possible they could be, say, buying time for the rest 358 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: of the colony. Yeah, and it's interesting to look at that. 359 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,160 Speaker 1: That's that reality in terms of how other ant species 360 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: deal with army ants, because apparently you very roughly you 361 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,080 Speaker 1: kind of have. You have two extremes. On one hand, 362 00:20:03,119 --> 00:20:04,840 Speaker 1: those they just put up a fight. They're like army 363 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: answer attacking, We're going to fight them back. We're gonna 364 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,600 Speaker 1: give it everything we have. But then you also have 365 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 1: some varieties of ants that evacuate everybody at the first 366 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:16,359 Speaker 1: sign of an attack. The army answer coming, So pack 367 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: it all up, we're getting out of here. But then 368 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,200 Speaker 1: they can move back in after the invaders have left 369 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: because their army answer are not gonna live there. They're 370 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 1: not gonna hang out in your colony and wait for 371 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:27,120 Speaker 1: you to come back. They're they're they're here for the goods, 372 00:20:27,160 --> 00:20:29,040 Speaker 1: and if the goods are not here, they have to 373 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:35,560 Speaker 1: keep moving. Now here's another just super interesting adaptation. UM. 374 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,920 Speaker 1: In the last episode, I mentioned Douglas j Emlin's book 375 00:20:38,920 --> 00:20:41,840 Speaker 1: Animal Weapons, which deals with the evolution of bioweapons and 376 00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: organisms as well as the development of tool based weapons 377 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: and humans. And he discusses the feodole and genus in 378 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: which individuals fall into various casts. So there, of course 379 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,800 Speaker 1: the reproductive male and females. They're the small workers, they're 380 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,159 Speaker 1: larger workers. And then there are the soldiers and the 381 00:20:59,240 --> 00:21:04,040 Speaker 1: soldiers of this genus boast quote grossly enlarged heads, jaws, 382 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:07,560 Speaker 1: and teeth. Okay, these are these A particular ants are 383 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: also known as the big headed ants. But then he 384 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: also goes on to discuss another genus of ants. This 385 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: is Odonto Marcus, the trap jaw ants, whose lock and 386 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: release jaw structure functions a lot like a mantis shrimp. 387 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,560 Speaker 1: You know, there's all this stored potential energy like a 388 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,360 Speaker 1: crossbow that has been pulled back and locked. So when 389 00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: these jaws shut on these trap jaw ants, they can 390 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,920 Speaker 1: shut its speeds a one hundred and forty three miles 391 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:40,199 Speaker 1: per hour, so they slam shut really fast. Right, And 392 00:21:40,240 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: here's where it gets That was a stupid restatement of 393 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,679 Speaker 1: what you said. But let's keep it. Yes, very very fast, 394 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,800 Speaker 1: especially on this scale too. Right. Um. But but here's 395 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: where he gets even more in raising. This is where 396 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: he gets kind of cunning because the trap jaw ants, 397 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: of course, they can release this bite at their adversaries, 398 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: but they can also unleashed this bite at the ground 399 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,840 Speaker 1: and in doing so, launch themselves backwards through the air 400 00:22:07,119 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: twenty body lengths as a successful escape tactic. Wow. So 401 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,440 Speaker 1: this reminds me of indungeons and dragons. There's this ability 402 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: that rogues have called the cunning action ability that allows 403 00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: them to effectively disengage in backtrack out of battle, so 404 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: they're able to strike at an enemy and then get 405 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:27,959 Speaker 1: out of there really quick, so the enemy can't smite 406 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: them back the next round. Um. Yeah, yeah, it's so 407 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: it's it's crazy to think. It's almost like they have 408 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: jet packs these ants. Yeah. I was trying to think 409 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: of what a what a human technological comparison would be. 410 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,159 Speaker 1: I was thinking about, like, I guess escape pods or 411 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,440 Speaker 1: ejector seats from fighter planes, or or just like maybe 412 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,040 Speaker 1: like it's kind of like a sky hook. Maybe a 413 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:53,000 Speaker 1: plane flies over just picks you up. Yeah. Yeah, I 414 00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,760 Speaker 1: don't even know if there is truly a direct because 415 00:22:55,760 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 1: when we're when we're talking about retreat and effectively, you know, 416 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,440 Speaker 1: backing your forces out in a military scenario. I mean generally, 417 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: it's a very delicate situation with with with human military forces. 418 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,359 Speaker 1: I can't think of anything offhand it seems like a 419 00:23:11,400 --> 00:23:14,439 Speaker 1: direct parallel to this. Now, a lot of ants boast 420 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:16,680 Speaker 1: chemical weapons. We touched on this in the very first 421 00:23:16,680 --> 00:23:19,159 Speaker 1: episode where we talked about the basic evolution of ants, 422 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:22,240 Speaker 1: in which early on it seems like you had more 423 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:27,760 Speaker 1: like powerful stings that were aimed at large, for instance, 424 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 1: vertebrate threats to the ants. But then the the evolutionary 425 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:37,360 Speaker 1: pressure becomes more focused on UH and warfare, and there 426 00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: so therefore you see all these various um adaptations emerge 427 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: where it's more about waging war against ants, and sometimes 428 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,640 Speaker 1: it takes place of new chemical weapons that they may use. 429 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,959 Speaker 1: So a very famous one, of course would be formic acid. 430 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,520 Speaker 1: The word formic coming from the word for ants formic 431 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: to day, yeah, and so that's what we see with 432 00:23:58,080 --> 00:24:01,199 Speaker 1: the formic acid of the form maica would ants. So 433 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: these ants can spray formic acid from the tips of 434 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: their abdomen. In fact, formic acid was first extracted in 435 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,159 Speaker 1: sixteen seventy one by the English naturalist John Ray. Is 436 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,920 Speaker 1: John Ray, the guy we talked about who was doing 437 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:17,159 Speaker 1: the experiments with with ants and formic acid and was 438 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 1: comparing it to urine. I don't think it is. I 439 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,919 Speaker 1: had to pull him up and granted a lot of 440 00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 1: these individuals with portraits from from the late seventeenth early 441 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,840 Speaker 1: eighteenth century, UH kind of look the same to me. 442 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: But um, I don't think we touched on him before, 443 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: could be wrong, but anyway, the formic acid of these 444 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,920 Speaker 1: ants that this is a great example of one variety 445 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: of of reriverally in and of itself amazing chemical weapons 446 00:24:43,840 --> 00:24:46,440 Speaker 1: that have been developed by that have evolved in these 447 00:24:46,480 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: ant species. But there are even more exotic examples to 448 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,680 Speaker 1: look at. And in this we're getting into the topic 449 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: of exploding ants, which this is so good. Yeah, and 450 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,560 Speaker 1: this is a lot of you probably heard about about 451 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,840 Speaker 1: examples of this before because I mean, it's just such 452 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:06,000 Speaker 1: an amazing topic and it's certainly made the rounds in 453 00:25:06,040 --> 00:25:09,159 Speaker 1: science communication and science journalism. Uh and in fact, I 454 00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,520 Speaker 1: think we've probably mentioned it on the show in the past. However, 455 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:15,080 Speaker 1: we're going to touch on some new stuff as well here, 456 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: like the new findings new species that have been discovered 457 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:21,640 Speaker 1: just in the last year or so. So um. Well, 458 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,679 Speaker 1: one and one example that comes up a lot is 459 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: uh campan nautists sunders of Malaysia and Brunei, whose bodies 460 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: are riddled with poison sacks and so when they attack. 461 00:25:31,600 --> 00:25:35,600 Speaker 1: When they're attacked, they constrict and rupture fatally, forcing sticky 462 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,760 Speaker 1: poison out of their mouth anous and through their exoskeleton. 463 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 1: And again, don't think of this as of the individual 464 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:46,200 Speaker 1: in this scenario, think of the group. Think of the colony, 465 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 1: the good of the colony. So this is a situation 466 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:53,760 Speaker 1: where the individual is a biological weapon and they can 467 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:59,240 Speaker 1: readily sacrifice themselves to do damage against or in some 468 00:25:59,280 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: way slow down an invading species. Yeah. I mean again, 469 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,080 Speaker 1: think of the colony as an organism. So this is 470 00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,920 Speaker 1: sort of like an animal with poison skin. The ant 471 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:13,360 Speaker 1: is sort of like the skin of the poison arrow frog, right, 472 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: And but in this case they can they can like 473 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 1: bear down and burst themselves like a like a like 474 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: a cooked sausage, you know, uh, like like a gusher, Yeah, 475 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:31,000 Speaker 1: poison gush exactly. This is called autopsis, and it's involved 476 00:26:31,119 --> 00:26:35,520 Speaker 1: independently in a number of termite species as well. But 477 00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: but you see different varieties of it. The kind of 478 00:26:37,760 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: shed light on how this seems to have evolved. So 479 00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: sometimes you'll have an autopsis utilizing species. It simply defecates 480 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,000 Speaker 1: on their enemies get too close, and I'm going to 481 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:52,040 Speaker 1: poop onto you. Other times you see it more a 482 00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 1: situation where they're they're bearing down, like they're pooping so 483 00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: hard that they're going to rupture their abdomen. And from 484 00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: this we get into sort of more exaggerated modes of 485 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: just absolute abdominal m explosion. And in fact, like IM said, 486 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:10,040 Speaker 1: there's a there's a nice new example of this that's 487 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:13,880 Speaker 1: come out. I was just reading in April establishments published 488 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: in zoo Keys via Lassity at All about another variety 489 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:24,800 Speaker 1: of exploding at known as uh Colobopsis explodings explodons. I 490 00:27:24,880 --> 00:27:27,959 Speaker 1: love this exploding a k a. Yellow do ats, but 491 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:31,719 Speaker 1: we're just gonna call him explodings because that's that's clearly 492 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: where the fun is. So this is a wonderfully fascinating 493 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,960 Speaker 1: species because minor workers in the colony have this exploding ability. Uh. 494 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,800 Speaker 1: They can burst themselves into this yellow chemical goo that 495 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,200 Speaker 1: is kind of like a spice that you know, again 496 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: will kill or slow down or or aggravate damage an invader. 497 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 1: But then they also have um have these larger major 498 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:59,760 Speaker 1: type workers and they're referred to as door keepers because 499 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: they have quote big plug shaped heads which they use 500 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: to block intruders in the tunnels. Pause to appreciate this 501 00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,160 Speaker 1: for a moment. So this is something that other species 502 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 1: of ant have have a version of this two specialized 503 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:18,719 Speaker 1: members that essentially have a locked door four ahead. It's like, 504 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,800 Speaker 1: this is a fascinating biomechanical way to raise the drawbridge 505 00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:24,920 Speaker 1: on your colony. Right, These would be ants that have dug, 506 00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:29,160 Speaker 1: you know, excavated colonies with tunnels, and the ants themselves 507 00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: to become part of the defensive structure by closing the 508 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 1: entrances of the tunnels with their heads. Yeah, this is amazing. 509 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 1: I'll also point out I believe there's another variety of 510 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,840 Speaker 1: ant that seals its entrances with stones, and we'll get 511 00:28:40,840 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: into some stone examples here in a bet, But I 512 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:47,360 Speaker 1: want to get back to explode and stuff. So this 513 00:28:47,440 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: is a particularly elegant adaptation for defense, but it also, 514 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:53,840 Speaker 1: at least on the surface, seems to buck the trend 515 00:28:53,880 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: we see earlier with marauder ants. For the marauders, the 516 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,480 Speaker 1: majors are the big guns. They're the A, T. S. 517 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,280 Speaker 1: D s that move into tear apart enemies that have 518 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: been bogged down amid the individually less impressive miners. For explodons, 519 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:11,160 Speaker 1: the majors are the plug heads, so they function mostly 520 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:14,440 Speaker 1: as barricade engines. Perhaps, you know, one could make a 521 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:17,720 Speaker 1: loose comparison to like a mobile field generator in Star 522 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: Wars or something. And with explodings, the majors rarely leave 523 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,840 Speaker 1: the nest. They're they're purely domestic defenses. It's the miners, however, 524 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:30,920 Speaker 1: that packed the explosive punch that are that are self detonating, uh, 525 00:29:30,960 --> 00:29:36,240 Speaker 1: sacrificing themselves, ending their lives in an attempt to strike 526 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:41,000 Speaker 1: out against the invaders. So these are literally suicide missions. Yeah. Yeah, 527 00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:45,280 Speaker 1: Like what apparently will happen is um like with the 528 00:29:45,320 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: marauder miners, the explodings miners are indeed the first wave. 529 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,840 Speaker 1: So there's an attack on the nest, then they pour 530 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: into battle, they latch onto an enemy with their mandibles, 531 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: and then they hold their abdomen close to their grappled enemy. 532 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,280 Speaker 1: Then they air down and they burst loosing out of 533 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,080 Speaker 1: a thick spiced yellow goo that again either kills them 534 00:30:06,360 --> 00:30:10,640 Speaker 1: or hinders the attacker. Wow. And then again Marauder style, 535 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,520 Speaker 1: the explodents majors burst in with their plug heads to 536 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 1: barricade the tunnels against increased invasion. And I guess one 537 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: of the interesting things to think about here is that 538 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,880 Speaker 1: we're really getting into a whole specialized realm evant warfare, 539 00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:28,480 Speaker 1: defensive warfare fought within the nest um, you know, defensive 540 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 1: urban warfare. UH specialists here tunnel warfare specialists, which is 541 00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,680 Speaker 1: something of course we see tunnel warfare and urban warfare 542 00:30:36,840 --> 00:30:40,120 Speaker 1: in human scenarios. And it makes me think back to 543 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: the linear a Lanchester's linear loft that we discussed in 544 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: the last episode. Yeah, again as a refresher, the linear 545 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: law tends to apply more to UH conflicts that are 546 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: close something closer to a series of sequential duels, where 547 00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:58,800 Speaker 1: a force with larger numbers can't use the square power 548 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: of those larger numbers to easily overwhelm smaller forces. UH. 549 00:31:02,800 --> 00:31:05,920 Speaker 1: You use defenses to your advantage to try to limit 550 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: the scope of how much battle can take place at 551 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: the same time. And a classic way to do this 552 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: is to create choke points, to create tunnels. Yeah, and 553 00:31:14,480 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 1: so this species would seem a master at chuckpoints. So 554 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 1: you're you're pouring into their UH to their home and 555 00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: you've got, you know, hundreds of of soldier ants that 556 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,600 Speaker 1: their at their disposal. Like they have numbers on their side, 557 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,280 Speaker 1: but they have specialists that can explode UH and a 558 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,960 Speaker 1: specialists that can seal off the tunnel. Uh so, which 559 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,200 Speaker 1: it gives seems to give them, uh you know, more 560 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:38,600 Speaker 1: or less equal footing with the invaders. And I want 561 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: to stress again that explode Us is a newly discovered 562 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:46,960 Speaker 1: variety of self sacrificing ant, first written about in and 563 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:49,800 Speaker 1: so more remains to be explored about them. But also 564 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,760 Speaker 1: in general, it just drives home how many aunt species 565 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:55,600 Speaker 1: are out there in the world that we just that 566 00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:58,960 Speaker 1: we haven't fully documented yet, how many, how many strange 567 00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: and wonderful adaptations are out there, they just simply haven't 568 00:32:03,320 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 1: been chronicled yet. Isn't that amazing just just to know 569 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: that there's so much more to learn that will be 570 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:15,440 Speaker 1: things like this, Just bizarre, amazing adaptations that already exist. 571 00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:18,040 Speaker 1: It's not like they're gonna come into being in the future. 572 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,440 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously new species will come into being. They're 573 00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:23,479 Speaker 1: already out there. We just never looked at them before, 574 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: never at least never documented them in a in a 575 00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,320 Speaker 1: thorough way. Absolutely all right, on that note, we're gonna 576 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: take one last break, but when we come back, we'll 577 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:39,200 Speaker 1: discuss the Stone Age tactics of bicolor ants. Than alright, 578 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: we're back. So the next variety of and I want 579 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: to touch on is the Dorry Meyer mix bicolor ants. 580 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: So if you have the higher ground, you know all 581 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:50,280 Speaker 1: you need is gravity and mass. Right, soldiers can defend 582 00:32:50,280 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: cliffs or the walls of a castle by dropping stones 583 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:56,239 Speaker 1: on the heads of attackers. But of course you can 584 00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:59,640 Speaker 1: also go on the offense, particularly via the technologies and 585 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,840 Speaker 1: the human in realm of bombardment, an enemy might drop 586 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:07,680 Speaker 1: things such as stones, bodies, or explosives upon an enemy city. Yeah, 587 00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:09,719 Speaker 1: in the human realm. I mean, one way you can 588 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,320 Speaker 1: think about the evolution of an air force is that 589 00:33:12,400 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: it is a It is a force evolved to give 590 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: you permanent high ground. Uh. And sometimes ants can definitely 591 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:22,800 Speaker 1: take advantage of this. In particular, these dory miromix by 592 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:27,080 Speaker 1: color ants of Arizona Um previously known as Cono Mirma 593 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: by color ants. They were discovered back in ninety nine 594 00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: by Moglik and Alpert to actually use small stones to 595 00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: drop um on their adversaries, basically ant tool use. Yeah. Now, 596 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:47,280 Speaker 1: I mean, I guess when you think about aunt tool use, 597 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:48,960 Speaker 1: you do have to like take a step back and 598 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: think about what ants are always doing their manipulating uh, 599 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:58,640 Speaker 1: the soil they're manipulating little grains of sand and moving 600 00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: them around, and this is just kind of a byproduct 601 00:34:02,640 --> 00:34:05,440 Speaker 1: of that. What are else are you doing with those 602 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:09,120 Speaker 1: pieces of the ground. So basically, the researchers back in 603 00:34:09,160 --> 00:34:12,839 Speaker 1: seventy nine observed that workers surrounding the nest would pick 604 00:34:12,920 --> 00:34:16,120 Speaker 1: up small stones and other objects and drop them down 605 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:19,560 Speaker 1: the nest entrances of rival nests that we're you know, 606 00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: reasonably close by. Now, comparing it to bombardment might be 607 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: a bit much, but it is at the very least 608 00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:30,880 Speaker 1: active interference in a competitors industry. So so perhaps one 609 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,600 Speaker 1: might think of it more as like industrial sabotage. I 610 00:34:34,640 --> 00:34:36,279 Speaker 1: don't know, I mean, it's it seems like that would 611 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: sort of counting me. It's using gravity and high ground 612 00:34:39,040 --> 00:34:42,920 Speaker 1: to your advantage in the attack on the enemy's infrastructure. 613 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,360 Speaker 1: So in many ways, it seems a lot like bombing 614 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,120 Speaker 1: or shelling. Yeah, yeah, I mean, I think you could 615 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:50,960 Speaker 1: make an argument for it. Again, going back to our 616 00:34:50,960 --> 00:34:53,719 Speaker 1: first episode, nothing in the ant world is gonna be 617 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,680 Speaker 1: one to one right with the human world. But uh, 618 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,759 Speaker 1: like Moffatt said, you know, good comparisons, you know, worthy 619 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 1: comparisons are not going to be a direct one to once, 620 00:35:04,280 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: but there are a few other possible cases of soil 621 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,680 Speaker 1: and pebble based tool used by ants um which again 622 00:35:10,719 --> 00:35:13,560 Speaker 1: shouldn't be really all that surprising given their intense manipulation 623 00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:18,120 Speaker 1: of the Earth. Four sixty five paper from Line at 624 00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:22,840 Speaker 1: All reported pavement ants using soil to attack bees and 625 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: the desert harvester. Ant will apparently drop bits of soil 626 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:30,520 Speaker 1: into honey water and then carry the soil particles back 627 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:33,320 Speaker 1: as a way to bring the honey water to the nest. 628 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:37,840 Speaker 1: This was this was via a study conducting eighty four 629 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:42,040 Speaker 1: by Philip McDonald of the New York Intomological Society, and 630 00:35:42,120 --> 00:35:47,080 Speaker 1: it seems to be related to the similar use of 631 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:50,719 Speaker 1: of soil to cover up liquids that ants cannot just 632 00:35:50,840 --> 00:35:54,880 Speaker 1: outright remove. Okay, so the idea here is that you 633 00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,600 Speaker 1: come across a liquid food source that you want to 634 00:35:57,600 --> 00:36:00,360 Speaker 1: bring back to the nest. You obviously you can't hairy 635 00:36:00,480 --> 00:36:02,600 Speaker 1: liquid the same way you could carry like a part 636 00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:06,000 Speaker 1: of another insects body back is food, So they will 637 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:10,200 Speaker 1: pour like soil into the liquid to create a sponge 638 00:36:10,320 --> 00:36:13,759 Speaker 1: full of sugar, and then carry that soil sponge The 639 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:16,799 Speaker 1: sugary soil sponge back towards the queen. That seems to 640 00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,880 Speaker 1: be the case here. Now uh, it's it's possible that 641 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:25,839 Speaker 1: this is something that more is obvious in experimental scenarios. 642 00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:29,720 Speaker 1: I'm not entirely certain on that, but it it certainly 643 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: underlines like what is possible using the properties of soil 644 00:36:33,080 --> 00:36:36,319 Speaker 1: at that scale. And again, it seems like the more 645 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:40,919 Speaker 1: u uh usual activity that you see is like there's 646 00:36:40,960 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: some sort of sail poison or a chemical and the 647 00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:44,799 Speaker 1: ants don't know what to do with that. They can't 648 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 1: really interact with it directly, but they can put soil 649 00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:49,799 Speaker 1: on it. They can essentially bury it. They can cover 650 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,479 Speaker 1: it up right, like kicking soil onto a smoldering camp 651 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:56,120 Speaker 1: fire or something. Yeah. So yeah, I would imagine that 652 00:36:56,200 --> 00:36:59,160 Speaker 1: these studies alleging some form of ant tool use, like 653 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,160 Speaker 1: most of the are these alleging types of tool use 654 00:37:02,160 --> 00:37:05,840 Speaker 1: and animals probably have encountered some dispute, you know, about 655 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: interpretation of the behaviors. U It seems like that always 656 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:12,640 Speaker 1: comes up. Now here's another one that's pretty interesting. This 657 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:15,880 Speaker 1: is an example brought up by Moffatt concerning the so 658 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:20,120 Speaker 1: called slave maker ants. So slave making is also known 659 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:24,400 Speaker 1: is duosis in the biology world. So these are cases 660 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:28,840 Speaker 1: where you'll have ants that are brood parasites that in 661 00:37:28,920 --> 00:37:32,920 Speaker 1: some species rely on the practice absolutely, but another species 662 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,239 Speaker 1: are not obligate slave makers. So basically what they do 663 00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,360 Speaker 1: is they invade a colony, they capture the brood of 664 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: another ant. Usually they're capturing the young, and generally it 665 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,759 Speaker 1: is a very specific species that they're focusing on, and 666 00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:50,320 Speaker 1: then they bring those young back to their own nest 667 00:37:50,600 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: where they're made to work, while members of the slave 668 00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:57,520 Speaker 1: maker species itself just focus on rating more nests for 669 00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:01,040 Speaker 1: more workers. Now, moffat ship Ar is that while slave 670 00:38:01,120 --> 00:38:05,880 Speaker 1: making ants are generally heavily armored, heavily armed with superior 671 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:11,120 Speaker 1: fighting abilities, some species use a propaganda chemical uh is 672 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,799 Speaker 1: the is the term he uses to throw off the 673 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,480 Speaker 1: enemy during raids. Uh So you have to think about this, right, 674 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: You may be big and strong, but it goes back 675 00:38:19,719 --> 00:38:22,880 Speaker 1: to that linear law that if you're going in to 676 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:25,479 Speaker 1: invade a colony, if you're gonna go into the thick 677 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:30,239 Speaker 1: of it, then great armor, great weapons, that's only gonna 678 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:33,040 Speaker 1: get you so far if you're outnumbered. But if you 679 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 1: have some sort of chemical advantage, if you're able to 680 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:41,160 Speaker 1: trick the others into thinking you're supposed to be there, 681 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:45,440 Speaker 1: then do you have an enormous advantage, doesn't matter about 682 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:49,160 Speaker 1: their superior numbers. And so in these cases, these propaganda 683 00:38:49,239 --> 00:38:52,479 Speaker 1: chemical using slave maker ants, they can often carry all 684 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:55,840 Speaker 1: of this out without any fighting or killing taking place. 685 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: You know, it's not just forms of rival ants there. 686 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:02,480 Speaker 1: It almost seems like there is a whole genre across 687 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:08,000 Speaker 1: different types of animals that's just adaptations for the safe 688 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:13,879 Speaker 1: infiltration of ant colonies. Yeah, Mermica phile. So the the 689 00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:17,400 Speaker 1: whole classification of animals that have have come to depend 690 00:39:17,480 --> 00:39:20,680 Speaker 1: upon the ants, and in many cases you use some 691 00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,919 Speaker 1: sort of chemical signal to trick the colony into thinking 692 00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:27,040 Speaker 1: they're supposed to be there. Now here's another example just 693 00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:32,040 Speaker 1: of of general sort of ant war um strategies that 694 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 1: is that has brought up off It brings this one 695 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:37,200 Speaker 1: up as well. Uh, we've ants, so we've answered not 696 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,440 Speaker 1: merely an army on the move, but they hold and 697 00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:44,279 Speaker 1: control territory. They spread their workers out across it and 698 00:39:44,320 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: then focus resources around key choke points. They even established 699 00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:52,840 Speaker 1: leafy barrack nests in the crowns of trees and Moffitt 700 00:39:52,920 --> 00:39:56,280 Speaker 1: points out that that we've answered therefore less rigid compared 701 00:39:56,320 --> 00:40:00,000 Speaker 1: to army ants quote. Weavers, in contrast, wander more freely 702 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,160 Speaker 1: and are more versatile in their response to opportunities and threats. 703 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,040 Speaker 1: The difference in style calls to mind the contrast between 704 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,799 Speaker 1: the rigidity of Frederick the Great's armies and the flexibility 705 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:14,560 Speaker 1: and mobility of Napoleon bonaparte troops. That's interesting. Yeah, So 706 00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:16,520 Speaker 1: so the idea is that if a weaver aunt does 707 00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 1: encounter a problem in the empire, he uses a recruitment 708 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:24,120 Speaker 1: pheromone to call in reinforcements from the immediate area, as 709 00:40:24,120 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: opposed to just having like one war gang ravaging around 710 00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:30,279 Speaker 1: the territory. So, again, these are not This is not 711 00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 1: an attempt to create an exhaustive list of all the 712 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:37,560 Speaker 1: amazing adaptations that ants have developed to wage wars against 713 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,200 Speaker 1: each other defend against each other, but hopefully it helps 714 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:44,600 Speaker 1: provide uh more of an idea of the rich diversity 715 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,000 Speaker 1: out there. This is one of my favorite types of 716 00:40:47,040 --> 00:40:49,560 Speaker 1: topics that that frequently comes up on the show. It's 717 00:40:49,560 --> 00:40:52,080 Speaker 1: one of those where you feel like you've gotten just 718 00:40:52,239 --> 00:40:56,080 Speaker 1: a tiny glimpse, you know, behind through through a curtain 719 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:59,160 Speaker 1: or through a window into a vast uh you know, 720 00:40:59,360 --> 00:41:04,200 Speaker 1: mansion possibilities and and and rich relationships. Uh, that that 721 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 1: you don't even think about most of your waking hours, 722 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:12,840 Speaker 1: that you know that the world is just shocking. Yeah. Absolutely, 723 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:16,600 Speaker 1: and um and I think it's really interesting to look 724 00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:20,120 Speaker 1: at the work of of you know, Wilson, Moffatt, uh 725 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:24,239 Speaker 1: and others when they compare ants to the human world, 726 00:41:24,239 --> 00:41:27,480 Speaker 1: because on one hand, it helps us better understand the ants, right, 727 00:41:27,880 --> 00:41:30,040 Speaker 1: you know, that's how humans work. Like if we can 728 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:34,560 Speaker 1: see ourselves reflected to some degree and another organism, then 729 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,400 Speaker 1: we can understand that organism better, even if it's you know, 730 00:41:37,440 --> 00:41:41,799 Speaker 1: we're kind of anthropomorphizing to get there. But then on 731 00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:44,120 Speaker 1: the other hand, it does seem like we potentially have 732 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 1: a lot to learn about what we are, right, we're 733 00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:50,600 Speaker 1: getting into, you know, the sociobiology of V. O. Wilson 734 00:41:50,719 --> 00:41:53,480 Speaker 1: or can or you know, certainly Moffatt gets into this 735 00:41:53,520 --> 00:41:55,879 Speaker 1: a lot in his book The Human Swarm, where he's 736 00:41:56,120 --> 00:41:58,239 Speaker 1: he's he's not just looking at the ant world, he's 737 00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,000 Speaker 1: he's moving from there into the human world and trying 738 00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,160 Speaker 1: to make sense of what we're doing. Yeah, and of course, 739 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:07,040 Speaker 1: you know, we're we're incredibly different creatures than ants, but 740 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:10,200 Speaker 1: some of the same resource dynamics and things like that 741 00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,160 Speaker 1: are always going to be in play no matter what 742 00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:16,640 Speaker 1: species you're talking about. Yeah. In that E. O. Wilson documentary, 743 00:42:16,680 --> 00:42:20,240 Speaker 1: I believe he shares this quote. Uh, he says, quote 744 00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:23,040 Speaker 1: the real problem of humanity is the following. We have 745 00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:28,799 Speaker 1: paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technology, and it is 746 00:42:28,920 --> 00:42:32,560 Speaker 1: terrifyingly dangerous and it is now approaching a point of 747 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,879 Speaker 1: crisis overall. I think in many ways that's true, and 748 00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,319 Speaker 1: it brings to mind. You know, something that's been sort 749 00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:42,440 Speaker 1: of simmering for me throughout these episodes is that what 750 00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,040 Speaker 1: I would hope we could learn by by looking at 751 00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:48,320 Speaker 1: the warfare of other organized species like you social insects, 752 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:52,080 Speaker 1: and uh comparing that to to get perspective on human 753 00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:55,680 Speaker 1: life is not that we learn how better to wage 754 00:42:55,719 --> 00:42:58,360 Speaker 1: war through it, but maybe how not to wage war 755 00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 1: and how to avoid war. Yeah. Yeah, there's the sort 756 00:43:02,239 --> 00:43:06,200 Speaker 1: of the lesson that we don't need to live like ants. Um. 757 00:43:06,239 --> 00:43:08,440 Speaker 1: I mean, because ants, for all the comparisons we've made, 758 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:11,319 Speaker 1: you know, they're they're free of these human burdens that 759 00:43:11,360 --> 00:43:14,279 Speaker 1: we mentioned, you know, they're emotionless. There, their ways, while 760 00:43:14,320 --> 00:43:16,880 Speaker 1: comparable to human institutions, in some way, are free of 761 00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:19,840 Speaker 1: institutional constraints. Well, Robert, while I agree with you in 762 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:21,719 Speaker 1: a sense about that, though I would I would be 763 00:43:21,800 --> 00:43:25,799 Speaker 1: careful about the idea that they're emotionless given our well true, yes, 764 00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:28,719 Speaker 1: our our invertebrate emotions episode. But yeah, we we don't know. 765 00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:32,160 Speaker 1: We don't think that they have complex inner lives the 766 00:43:32,160 --> 00:43:34,600 Speaker 1: way that we do, even though they have these internal 767 00:43:34,680 --> 00:43:38,239 Speaker 1: states that you could probably recognize as being something like 768 00:43:38,480 --> 00:43:42,080 Speaker 1: fear or joy, possibly, right, Yeah, I mean, I I 769 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:45,200 Speaker 1: think I have heard before I forget who there was 770 00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:48,399 Speaker 1: an entomology. I don't think it was Wilson Um. Maybe 771 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:52,359 Speaker 1: it was Moffitt and an MPR piece talking about the 772 00:43:52,520 --> 00:43:57,319 Speaker 1: watching ants and feeling that some ants had almost a personality. 773 00:43:57,480 --> 00:43:59,960 Speaker 1: So yeah, you're you're correct. I shouldn't be too fast 774 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:05,200 Speaker 1: to dismiss them as emotionless. Though an individual ant soldier 775 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:08,600 Speaker 1: is well far I think, far less of an individual 776 00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,160 Speaker 1: than a than a human. I think we can we 777 00:44:11,200 --> 00:44:14,000 Speaker 1: can at least focus on that, um and then in 778 00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:16,240 Speaker 1: terms of like what they can do, I mean, certainly 779 00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:18,759 Speaker 1: they are a powerful force within the ecosystem. It's been 780 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:23,760 Speaker 1: observed that if all humans died today, ants would proceed 781 00:44:23,880 --> 00:44:26,399 Speaker 1: just fine, But if all the ants died, the world 782 00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:29,799 Speaker 1: would be in a state of absolute chaos. All right, 783 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:31,920 Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and close it out right there. 784 00:44:32,920 --> 00:44:36,560 Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this three part look at ant warfare. 785 00:44:36,640 --> 00:44:40,000 Speaker 1: But obviously there's so so much in the ant world. 786 00:44:40,000 --> 00:44:42,479 Speaker 1: We can easily return, probably will return at some point 787 00:44:42,520 --> 00:44:45,920 Speaker 1: in the future to discuss ants once more, especially as 788 00:44:46,480 --> 00:44:50,560 Speaker 1: researchers continue to make new discoveries. Totally in the meantime, 789 00:44:50,560 --> 00:44:52,080 Speaker 1: if you would like to check out other episodes of 790 00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:54,520 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind, you can find us wherever 791 00:44:54,600 --> 00:44:57,319 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts and wherever that happens to be. 792 00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,800 Speaker 1: We just asked that you rate, review, and subscribe. You 793 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,640 Speaker 1: thanks as always to our excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. 794 00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:05,440 Speaker 1: If you would like to get in touch with us 795 00:45:05,800 --> 00:45:08,320 Speaker 1: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest 796 00:45:08,400 --> 00:45:10,840 Speaker 1: topic for the future, or just to say hello, you 797 00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,600 Speaker 1: can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your 798 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:23,800 Speaker 1: Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production 799 00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:26,600 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for my Heart Radio, 800 00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,560 Speaker 1: visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you 801 00:45:29,680 --> 00:45:31,880 Speaker 1: listening to your favorite shows. B