Where Are the Ants Carrying All Those Leaves? | Deep Look
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- Ants don’t eat leaves. They use them to grow white tufts of nutritious fungus to feed their offspring. Their success as farmers has made leafcutter ants into fungus tycoons, complete with their own underground cities and huge half-inch soldiers to patrol them.
DEEP LOOK: a new ultra-HD (4K) short video series created by KQED San Francisco and presented by PBS Digital Studios. See the unseen at the very edge of our visible world. Get a new perspective on our place in the universe and meet extraordinary new friends. Explore big scientific mysteries by going incredibly small.
What do ants eat?
Though leafcutter ants drink the sap in leaves for energy, they don’t eat them. Instead, they use them to grow something else. Leafcutters use leaf pieces to feed a fungus that grows in white tufts in their nests. The ants eat the fungus and feed it to their brood.
How old are ants?
To give you an idea, while humans have farmed for around 12,000 years, ants have been doing it for 60 million.
How many ants are there in the world?
If you bundled together all the ants in the world, there would be more of them than people - they’re the dominant biomass, says Brian Fisher, chair of the Department of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco. This is because all 30,000 species of ants are social. They have many ways of making a living.
How strong are ants?
Leafcutter ants haul leaf pieces through fields or forests to their underground nests. For a human, this feat would be the equivalent of carrying more than 600 pounds between our teeth.
Why are ants important to the soil?
The activity of ants aerates the soil, making it easier for water and oxygen to get through. They also contribute organic matter.
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Newt Sex: Buff Males! Writhing Females! Cannibalism!
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See also another great video from the PBS Digital Studios!
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And this one is also a favorite:
How to get Ants to carry a sign - Smarter Every Day 92
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Read an extended article on how leafcutter ants grow a fungus from leaf pieces:
ww2.kqed.org/science/2015/06/1...
If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can see live leafcutters at the Oakland Zoo or the California Academy of Sciences, in San Francisco.
www.oaklandzoo.org
www.calacademy.org
The compact book “The Leafcutter Ants: Civilization by Instinct,” by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, has detailed black and white drawings, photos and a fascinating description of the mating habits of leafcutter ant queens. The queen accumulates all the sperm she’ll need for her entire reproductive life during a single mating frenzy. After that, males are no longer necessary: Leafcutter colonies are made up entirely of female ants.
KQED Science: ww2.kqed.org/science
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Twitter: / kqedscience
Funding for Deep Look is provided in part by PBS Digital Studios and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Deep Look is a project of KQED Science, which is supported by HopeLab, The David B. Gold Foundation; S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation; The Dirk and Charlene Kabcenell Foundation; The Vadasz Family Foundation; Smart Family Foundation and the members of KQED.
#deeplook - Věda a technologie
I always used to see lines of ants carrying leaves, everyone thought they ate them, what awesome little beasts
DoctypeBeats We here at KQED are too far north to see them, but luckily our local Oakland Zoo and California Academy of Sciences both have colonies we could film.
Gotta admire his enthusiasm
they are not to far away from being like humans the only thang they need now is to grow in size
@@brotherhoodoutcast. they are NOT LAZY, NOTHING LIKE HUMANS
Yeah I thought they store them to eat later.
The images in this channel videos are absurdly amazing
Thank you for your kind words, +gaz88. Our cinematographer is Josh Cassidy.
+Gabriela Quiros I'd like to to thank him for such amazing footage
Humans: Can we copy your homework?
Ants: Yeah, just try to make it look different.
L0L
Lol
LoL
@@vansh6038 i like how there are only 3 replies and they all just say "lol"
@@bakedgoldfish45 I like how you commented after 2 years
Imagine if these guys were size of dogs... We would be so outnumbered holy shit
They wouldn't be able to carry heavy stuff at that scale to their body if they were that big , and they wouldn't be able to support themselves with those legs
Omg that would be horrifying
OMG I don't wanna think about that.
-Dash™ You'd be surprised how well exoskeletons scaled up in prehistoric eras.
M. permiana was a dragonfly that was as big as a seagull; P. kirktonensis was a land scorpion as big as a dog....
And Arthropleura were giant ancestors of the millipedes and centipedes, with some species bigger than _humans!_
voices.nationalgeographic.com/2011/01/15/largest_landdwelling_bug_of_al/
So whatever doesn't suit giant bugs today probably wasn't their body designs..
If I remember correctly, the larger exoskeletons existed during a time when oxygen was in higher concentrations compared to now. Insects have no lungs and rely on trachea passively channeling air for use. Lower oxygen concentration simply means the passive channeling cannot bring in oxygen fast enough for massive exoskeletons to exist today.
Incredible! I already knew about ant agriculture, but seeing it in action is even more impressive. They really are similar to us in many ways (some species of ants even keep aphids as 'cattle' and feed on the sweet secretion they produce).
It really makes me wonder if they're intelligent in some way... most people are dismissive of such an idea since they're 'just insects', but with societies this complex, it's hard to ignore that something might be going on.
+agentlolipop001 We're so happy you liked it! Here's our latest: czcams.com/video/YTYFdpNpkMY/video.html
+agentlolipop001 Cool but creepy, how the queen to decide what type of ant she's going to get?
Ultra Fire
Good question...
+Ultra Fire MAAAAGIIIIIC
I think we're more dismissive of ant intelligence because they're physically incapable of the physiological structures that would be required for intelligence to exist. You perceive their patterns as intelligence, but that doesn't make them so.
Why there is always someone who dislikes even highest quality content?
Or, may be it's just missclick?
bots
they probably looking for ant porn.
It's because it's a female narrator
I think they have no life, so all they do is go from video to video clicking the thumbs down.
Combination of bots and no life trolls
very educational. you just earned 1+ subscribers
Thank you! Welcome to our channel!
i love your videos and your awesome and the best!!!!!
amateur gamer *1+ sub
amateur gamer +2
Deep Look + 1 :)
A soldier ant sure is gigantic.
+HCN 27.0253g/mol Thanks for watching!
Not as big as me doe
@@jeremybersabe9520 More brave maiby than a Dog.
The titans
I'm amazed by these tiny creatures and I'm amazed how these people study these tiny creature to learn about everything they do.
There is a chapter in the Quran on ants. Its called An-Naml (the ant)
I see this as wisdom, the art of replenishment to keep the generations going on and on!
They have a great teamwork.
Me the next morning:Where’s all my leaves!!!
Ants: hehehe
I have a phobia of spiders and some insects
So when i'm watching this out of plain curiosity
I get the tingly feeling that something is crawling on my head
And it doesn't feel good...
I like how out of every animal, humans and ants are the only ones who realized that we can grow food
i wanna say one thing.. voice of the lady is so awesome.. so clear... thank you for such a good video deep look
You guys are one day going to be the #1 nature channel on youtube. You are already #1 as far as I'm concerned. Great work
this is fascinating!!! look at all that fungus! it's so interesting that they actually collect the leaves so edible fungus grows on it
Anyone else get sudden itches while watching this?
A little ehheh
that's bed bugs, you got the wrong about ants
I did only one time but when I saw this comment I suddenly had an itch xD
Yuudachi A bit itchy but a mosquito bites me
Yuudachi My foot is itching so yeah
It's really fascinating how something like this would have evolved in the ant to begin with. There must have been some fungus in the hive and the ants realized it was quite good to eat. However for the ants to *understand* what the fungus wants to grow, that's something quite different. Nature truly is quite spectacular.
This surprised me. SO much
They are so freaking smart
this is amazing, i hope the channel grows quick, becuase more people need to see this, they just dont know it yet.
+Rickard R Thank you for watching and for your kind words. Tell your friends about us, and subscribe, if you haven't yet. We have many more cool science videos in production for you.
I'm so excited to have come across this channel! Love the work you do and pls keep up your excellent work!
Thank you, Sarah.
I love this channel! It's full of knowledge...very educational! Good job!
I just had to love this video. I have a few ant videos on my channel but are completely amateur and of the ants I keep myself. How did you manage to get shots of the fungus? I bet you had access to a captive Atta colony, that's awesome.
They most likely used a fibre optic camera to shoot the ants fungus farming
Just doing some research as to why the ants in my back yard have eaten all my peppers and bellpepper leaves
Please don't ever stop, I love this channel!
This is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen.
The ants carrying those leaves look like little sailboats that kids use to learn to sail
You could have possibly mentioned also how leafcutter ants have developed and evolved their own type of herbicides, That the ants use to get rid of any weeds that grows on their fungus.
My trypophobia kicks in every time I watch video about ants but I love watching them...
this is what we call teamwork.
@1:11 the ant crushing the leaf piece deserves a raise
How does it feel, knowing these ants do more work than you and I?
Amazing information! I can't praise you guys enough!
You videos are very interesting I subscribed 👍🏻
Thank you!
I love your videos, they are super interesting and the quality is just perfect! Can I ask what camera and lenses you use?
I subscribed like last week and seriously I just can't get enough of your videos , lovee the high quality and how educational but fun it is. 💯💞
Awesome! Thanks for subscribing!
Wow!! I always thought they ate them, but eventually it does turn to food. They are very smart
God, I absolutely ADORE this channel! I'm so glad I found it. I'll be srpeading the word, believe it!
0:54 "this is no small matter"
BARS 🔥🔥🔥
awesome Friend !! whoever you are, you have long journey ahead, Good luck !!
Bugs are like tiny aliens lol
amazing footage! Great visual imagery.
Their nests are so complex, they have refuse areas on the outside to discard unwanted fungi, they build mounds with tunnels through them that face the prevailing wind to catch it and act as an air conditioning system for the subterranean nest. And when it cools below the optimal temperature for the fungi to grow they seal it up either temporarily with their bodies, or permanently with soil and dead ant body parts.
First look at those fungus, "Oh its my heaven"
That ending sentence is quite powerful.
If we could only train them to mow the lawn and trim the hedges, we would be great buddies!
Ant love Forever 🐜 ❤️
There was a display at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and I could sit and watch them for hours!
Wonderful video, such an incredible planet we have. I wish that human agriculture was as evolved as the ants, so that it too could build up the soil, instead of depleting it :( I guess we have some ways to go, hope we get there.
We could build up the soil on our farms if we lived like ants. But that would mean out farms are where we live, eat, and defecate. I'm much happier not pooing on my dinner.
You realize that food is grown with poop, right? Any sustainable food production system uses manure. There are efforts being made to close the nutrient cycle, which is something we HAVE to do if we are going to survive. This involves capturing the nutrients that humans poop out. Don't worry though, noone will put untreated poop on your food, it is transformed before spreading and then the plants eat it. I think the future will involve using decomposing bodies as well, it is just too wasteful to bury them in sealed boxes. We need come back into the cycles of life-death-life.
I went to Costa Rica and I saw these EVERYWHERE!
Hi there. I produced this video, and I grew up in Costa Rica. Locals there refer to these leafcutter ants as "zompopas." Thanks for watching!
+Gabriela Quiros
Oh really? Huh I never knew that. Costa Rica is truly beautiful. I went with my school and stayed in Monteverde. We got to practice our Spanish a lot. I'm in 8th grade.
0:45 "remember they're farming here"; the way she says it, it cracks me up everytime!!!😂😂😂thanks deep look, I've taken biology for my future field thanks to your amazing video🙏🙏
I watch too much of ants Canada to already know most of this lol, great video!
You deserve more subscribers, your videos are amazing. Just subbed
Welcome! Thanks for subscribing!
That one ass who didnt like the video lmao
DrunkenMadman That's OK, everyone has their own likes and dislikes.
Deep Look i honestly dont see whats not to like. your videos are really cool. i dont even like bugs but you make them interesting haha
DrunkenMadman Thanks! What should we film next?
Moths.
Leaf cutter ants are still really cool
great work,lots of knowledge, appreciativ
2:48 lol that ant look like it’s wearing a crown
I love when I'm outside and I see little ants carrying food, leaves and rocks back home. There are so many ant hills all around my school and I be careful not to step on any of them
I saw these at night in Costa Rica and was just amazed, as I had never seen anything like this before! Glad I was smart enough to avoid them and not step on them
0:04The Leafcutter Farming music starts!3:29
And then the army ants invade, raid and turn them all into food...just like any wandering nomad-militant-culture do to settled farming culture.
True
+1 00 Genghis Khan would beg to differ
How did you get those shots?
i really like your videos, very educational and amazing. please do more 😊
Thank you, Siti!
did anyone else get really itchy during this ??
Fun fact: see that little dot on the ants head in the last picture?
That called the third eye. It senses shadows so that they can see thing bigger than itself,
For example, a bird
cute lil' bug friends
KnaveMurdok Thanks, Knave!
No prob, Bob :3
There are actually many different genres of leafcutter ants like Acromyrmex , Trachymyrmex , and Miceritosis.
It ain’t much but it’s honest work
Now I would like to be an ant one day, fighting stuff, farming, etc
basically we are like ants but in a different way?
Should be somewhere, saw your collection
Ah my favorite kind of ants. 🐜 and my favorite channel:)
1.22 Got me speechless :'))
Imagine If you were walking down the road and you see all of those ants carry leaves I would follow them
this is amazing.......
may i download this video for work?
It kind of looks like the Ants are eating cotton candy
"These ants make us look like newbies!" Shows ants carrying a leaf each
These macro shots are amazing....
1:08
Sounds like what an ASMR guy would be doing
O
~. D
O
They have enchanted their jaws with Effiency V
Your videos have got me so addicted to watching things about animals/Insects xd
Leaf cutter ants! My favourite ant species!
Ant kiddo: Mom there's fungi on the bread.
Mom Ant: Oh just take away the clean ones.
Oh my--this is just lovely!
David Shi Thank you!
Your cousins idea
Every Time I Open CZcams Be Like...."Is there new vids in deeplook?"
Ants, Such Thrilling Masterpieces Of Nature. Mother Nature Knew What She Was Doing When She Made Them.
I like leaf cutters ants, they have such organization.
imagine being 10 times smaller than one of your own allies
this came up in biology and i had to see how it was done i am so impressed
Today I was at a pool around the evening the water started to cover in what I call flying ants ants with wings so me and my family made a group to save all the bugs and got 40% of the bugs at the time out of the pool i fell like a good person
SpidearPlays Sounds like an amazing experience.
flying ant are the ones that mate between the colonies to make new queen ants and nests
Those flying ants are drones
The knowledge that a creature one thousandth my size is this organized depresses me.
3:00 holy that was deep
Fascinating!
Depending on the type of leaves the fungus could have different flavours like ice cream😋🐜
There is a big kingdom of ants in my area.. I played with them when im bored. I give them really small berrys, make them small homes with white cement... Today i give them a small letter.. They carried it all the way to the top of the tree
that last part hit me hard tbh
I'm so glad people are learning about these amazing ants! #AntLoveForever
If you could include the data in the metric system on screen, it would be highly appreciated. thanks!
+1
They are like Pikmin in real life
*What did the leaf cutter said when someone mess up in acting*
*"CUT!"*