Did you know that In the US alone, more than US$5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in RIFA-infested areas. The ants cause approximately $750 million in damage annually to agricultural assets, including veterinarian bills and livestock loss, as well as crop loss. That’s crazy. See how power in numbers works? If we all pull together? Think about it. The things we could do…Back to the fire ant: so they sting? I heard they sting. Anyone has any experience with red fire ants?
For me here in south Florida these ants are a constant menace...just mowing the lawn can be a painful, stressful experience...one thing I have to say about fire ants is "you don't have to *like* 'em, but you *gotta respect* 'em" 🐜🐜🐜
I’ve seen a fire ant raft in a flood, loaded with larvae carefully carried on top. Amazing! My sister (sometimes too sympathetic): “Oh! We have to help them!” Me: “No, we don’t.”
I fell in a fire ant nest in tampa fl. when I was 8. My parents stripped me in the yard and washed me with the water hose in front of my friends to get them all off! Worse day of ever lol!
Fire ants were first seen, not in the 1930s, but the 1920s in Mobile, Alabama. They have been in the United States, not for eighty, but for one hundred years. I became quite familiar with them while living in Birmingham, Alabama.
Without a doubt, THIS is the best made, most informative video of ANY genre “I” have EVER seen. Perhaps because I’m a nerd? I think not. I was mesmerized.
Fun fact:Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis, which includes over 200 species. Solenopsis are stinging ants, and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many of the names shared by this genus are often used interchangeably to refer to other species of ant, such as the term red ant, mostly because of their similar coloration despite not being in the genus Solenopsis. Both Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus are common examples of non-Solenopsis ants being termed red ants.[2]
I saw someone in FL found they liked sandy soil so he changed his whole yard into a garden of moist soft soil which doesn’t support their tunnels. He claimed that worked better than chemicals.
I live in Alabama in a rural.... grassy area... One day we will Cut the grass the next day ...by the time you come home from work in the evening... It'll be a huge ant mound in the middle of your yard Sometimes multiples... I have no idea how they Build up so quickly nor How they make/find all this sand like stuff ... because the mounds are normally sand color... It's an amazing feat for such tiny creatures
I don't know if this works with fireants, but cinnamon will work on other ants,if you don't believe that, go find a anthill and sprinkle some cinnamon around the entrance and watch how they react. They will leave, continue until they are completely gone. It worked in northern Michigan.
I found out around 16 years of age that I was allergic to the venom in the stings of these annoying things. Their venom is closely related to bee venom, of which I also happen to be allergic to. I have to carry an epi-pen with me everywhere.
Same with me. I had to spend a couple of days in the hospital when I was was jr high school. It was horrible. My legs swelling so much and the rash was very bad. Epipen always with me.
I put my arm down on a nest, got stung hundreds of times and went into anaphylactic shock. I thought my days were over but thankfully, I came out of it. Yet I still find them fascinating. Incidentally, I think the reason I survived the shock is through thinking what's the best thing I can do not to get through this? I decided staying calm was my best chance. It obviously worked!
@@edgarhernandez8003 Well such expression is covered by free speech. I simply appreciate the choice to not do so. Isn't it kind of self centered? The god allowed all kinds of horrible things, but he looked out for you?
@@edgarhernandez8003 Well if you thank the god that you survived a natural disaster, wouldn't you need to hold HIM responsible for the others who suffer horribly, and die early? Kind of inconsistent thinking?
I’m at an Airbnb in Arizona and kept seeing these things. I fed them a muffin and they came and grabbed it all within an hour. Now I put some poison and they are swarming it… muahahaha. Goodbye ants
For me here in south Florida these ants are a constant menace...just mowing the lawn can be a painful, stressful experience...one thing I have to say about fire ants is "you don't have to *like* 'em, but you *gotta respect* 'em" 🐜🐜🐜
Here in NC they’re awful too. I’m really here to ask what people recommend to get them out of their yards lol I use ortho broadcast and mound treatments, just wanna know if anyone has found anything better
Go at the mound head on, tilt the mower back towards you with the blades up over the .ound, then just drop the mower on the mound. The mower will probably stall out but the mund will be gone! They won't get on your legs!🫡
We’ve got a pet colony. Knock on wood…I’ve never been stung or bitten. We’ve also got a colony of carpenter ants and I’m not kidding, they move out of the way every time I feed them! It really is amazing!
I flooded out an ant mound by the pool and hosed the wandering ants into the pool thinking they would all drown ... I was shocked and mad that they were rafting after a while so they got the hose again as I was thinking how does a creature with fire in it name overcome water
lol we finally learn how to not just pick a natural enemy of the invasive species, but a natural enemy that is harmless to anything but their target. really frickin good documentary!
When I lived in the Southeast before I moved to the Northern Midwest, before knowing they were fire ants I used to penetrate their mounds and before being told that they were fire ants I use to do it just to see the ants swarm the mound. After getting bitten and stung several times doing that I was then informed they were fire ants and trust me that you don't want to get bitten and stung by them. Thankfully there's no fire ants here in the Northern Midwest and in Northern States most of the ants aren't nearly as hostile as fire ants.
I really hope these flies help reduce the fire ants population to a good degree so they wont cause problems as much as they have been. Fire ants are aggressive and need management so people and animals and everything else can be balanced.
There is a new invasive ant species that is actually displacing fire ants. They're called Crazy Ants. But they're actually worse than the Fire Ants, because they're far more aggressive and swarm in greater numbers. They do kill Fire Ants, but they'll go into your house, while Fire Ants tend to stay where they are.
Dude relax...theres too much to worry about in the world..we cant worry about ants right now. All you need to know is whatever you do, DO NOT SUPPORT THOSE POISONS they try to get you to buy and put in your garden.
Growing up in south texas, one thing I noticed about fire ants is that when you accidentally step in a mound, you domt realize it until your leg is covered with them. It seems like they wait until they engulf you before they all simultaneously start to bite/sting you. I have always wondered if that was a coincidence or by design.
If it is soft mound I realize instantly that I have better move my foot just from the feel of it and long experience. but if they are under debri or a sidewalk it is trickier because you do not feel potential nest. I usually get an occasional bite under my clothing from what is likely an individual ant that is often in the full of a small shallow pus filled shallow wound that is what they normally leave behind if the ant is able to sting unimpeded. sometime I use gasoline if the ants are under a concrete walk. Use enough and the colony is done in. Messes up their epicuticle and also the aquifer. Dawn dish washing solution as used for fleas on dogs will likely also do in fireants and that is a gentler solution for fireants, but not so useful for hornets.
I've experienced that too. That behavior makes sense. Since the ants are carnivorous and often feed on insects and other creatures that might be many times their size, it's a good strategy for them to wait until many ants are on hand to have a better chance subdue the prey. Must be a chemical signal.
Snake venom is used in mycology for breaking down DNA in order to allow combining features of two different mushroom variations. This would be an interesting experiment to do the same thing for much less money. Rattle snake venom can cost thousands
Having been in the deep south years ago I saw how fast they were spreading and how large the nests were. Florida department of agriculture started breeding and releasing the parasitic flies after extensive testing that they wouldn't use any native ants as hosts. Since a few years after releasing them (continually I assume) I never see the multiple large colonies I use to, and I'm talking not only urban areas but off through the fields and woods 🙂
@@AntsFlagstaff each species of parasitic fly goes after 1 specific species of ant. They literally cannot lay eggs in another species. In addition the US fire ants are most certainly not solenopsis invicta. Last every place on earth has native ants with names indicating fire, ginger etc which are not the invasive fire ants.
@@duanesamuelson2256 I am going to have to look up these flys and dive more into their mechanic's. All though when you said theres places with ants named fire ants and other names that are the same. The genera solenopsis is the fire ant, solenopsis. I can not have a specie of honey pot (Myrmecocystus) or Weaver ants (Oecophylla) I can not call them somthing else. If they are in that ganera they are Honey pots, They are Weaver ants, They are fire ants. With that being said all Solenopsis species are relitivly close to the same size and built relitivly the same. Just with a species that relitivly around the same built and everthing the flys could easily see the natives as the invasive ones over time (over time) just a little concern.
They live their lives out in a short term universe of pain and madness, yet they will probably still be here long after we are gone. " The meek shall inherit the earth".
I was covered head to toe in fire ants as a young adult. I was attempting to remove a tall bush with several woody limbs. Unknown to me there was a super mound right at the base of the bush. I was using a hatchet to take off the tall limbs and at some point I ended up stepping into the middle of the bush figuring I'd work from the inside out. I remember feeling like I was being covered in spider webs while I was chopping away and then I looked at my bare arms and I couldn't even see my skin for all the fire ants covering them. Suddenly realizing what was happening I looked down and my entire lower body was a solid mass of fire ants. I immediately dropped the ax and fought my way out of the entangling bush. They had started stinging any bare flesh they could find. My mother heard me yelling from inside the house. All I could do is run towards the house swatting my arms, face and head like a crazy person and I just yelled " FIRE ANTS!" over and over as I ran. So by the time I reached the gate to the yard my mother already had a water hose with a sprayer on it's end and she just yelled for me to strip! I was dancing around swatting and yelling and peeling off my clothes as fast as I could while my mother continually sprayed me up and down with the fully open nozzle up and down my body as I continued spinning and stripping of all my clothes until I was butt naked and it still took her a few minutes to finally get them all off of me. My body was covered in pimply red welt's that were still stinging like I was on fire even though the water from the garden hose was almost ice cold on my hot skin. I was embarrassed to be naked like that in front of my mother but the fire ants were worse than any kind of humiliation I might have felt. Once she was sure she'd gotten all of them off of me. She took me inside and gave me a clean towel to cover my embarrassment and had me sit on her bed while she began applying medications to my incredible number of stings. I of course applied the medical lotion to my private areas myself after she was done. I felt quite sick for the rest of the evening but I was much better the next morning. Only a few had made it to my face and a couple had gotten me on my eyelids. But I was extremely lucky to get away with such little real damage.
Does it bother anyone else to watch a video while the speaker is hard to hear because of the back ground music and noises. love these videos but can only watch for 5 minits.
Definitely grew up with these in Texas and have had my fair share of encounters with them, that sting was surely enough to make me keep my distance from a kid to now an adult. They’re going to take over the world! 😈
Oh wow. Okay. Thanks for sharing! I grew up in So California - only normal ants there back then. It’s probably changed by now. I’m guessing it’s a bit like a jelly fish. Their stings definitely hurt.
I live in Florida and they are a nightmare in every way.Guy who works for a pest company said they have to make new and stronger pesticides every year cause the ants become immune to the old one.
@@randquadrozzi5850 Don't finish them entirely coz they keep termites, cockroach, leeches away You can farm some chickens 30-40 chickens can keep all bugs away 🔥🔥🔥
@@DipenKumar27 Yes we actually had 12 stray chickens take up residence at our house after my kids fed them and they do peck around a lot looking for insects
I had fire ants last year until a new ant showed up and kicked them out of my whole area. The new ant makes no mounds, does not sting/bite, but in winter come in the house looking for water/food. They are tiny. I can finally walk barefoot in my yard again with no chemicals, and only minimal spray in the house. Edit: I'm in Southeast Texas.
They're called Crazy Ants. They're worse news than Fire Ants. They'll go into your house and short out the electrical equipment and cause damage to the house. You may be able to walk outside barefoot, but you won't be able to come back home to sleep, when they invade it.
I've seen that feature of ant in Colorado. When a larger ant gets by one it's like they don't see it but then when it gets soo close it bumps it like, the larger ant flees fast.
the more you learn .... i didnt actually realize that the fire ants that i grew up in MS with were invasive ... no wonder we hated them so much. (not to mention that for some reason i had the best ability to find random nests without even looking for them and then getting rashes 2-3 times a week)
i was a lineman in Florida and did a lot of underground repairs. Almost every equipment cabinet we had was full of them and almost all of us expierenced stripping down to our underwear in public covered in them. Night time in rain was the worst with floating masses and not seeing them until it was to late.
A friend's dad was a taxidermist when I was a teen, and I'd go to his house, and there'd be deer heads all over the yard with a tire around it chained to the ground. I finally figured out he was putting the head in fire ant nests and using the ants to clean the skull, and the tire was to keep the dogs from dragging it off.
I bought a tent from a thrift store and the first night I pitched it, I had forgotten about the candy wrapper in my pocket. Well,the fire ants reminded me it was still there
A word to all.....I grew up in the Deep South, USA where Fire Ants fiercely reign. When a child I stepped into a Fire Ant bed and they bit me terribly. An older man quickly rubbed a degreasing hand product for auto mechanics called "GoJo" on the bites and the pain went away. Since then it's always worked for me but I never looked up why.
Ammonia, in a spray bottle, works even better. Same principle, use a ph base to neutralize the acidic venom. But since ammonia is in a liquid solution, it penetrates the puncture wound of the sting better than a gel substance. I live in the Northeast US, no fire ants up here (yet); I carry a small spray bottle of ammonia with me outside to deal with wasp and hornet stings. Works great if you spray the ammonia on the sting immediately, the longer you wait to spray, the less effective the relief. Also important , within a minute or two after spraying, wash the ammonia off your skin.
When I was stationed at Charleston AFB in South Carolina, I conducted a survey (as a civil engineer) and fire 🔥 ants attacked me. Every where they bit me left a a little pus pocket. 😊
I once saw a fire ant hill 6 feet tall in Georgia... I poked it with a large stick, and OUT THEY CAME, thousands of them, and pissed off as can be... I came back about an hour later, and the hole I created was completely repaired, like it never happened... TEAMWORK...
I remember one of my very first memories was when I was still in diapers, and was wondering around the front yard of my home. It was summer time and I had on only my diapers and a little tank top. Around the side of the driveway there were these planter boxes that had these enormous juniper trees, and geraniums. Suddenly I saw these little red rubies moving all around. They were so pretty and sparkly in the summer sun. I went up to the and sat right down to pick them up and play with them, suddenly I was attacked by these little red rubies,,,,,aka Fire Ants 🐜 and they launched an attack like I had never seen. I was SWARMED by them and every one was stinging me and biting me, omg the pain was AWFUL, OMG!!!! I cried out and my mother came running only to find me covered in red!! In just about a second she realized they were red fire ants, and tore off my diaper and my tank top and hosed me down with the garden hose, then dried me off put on a fresh diaper and a t shirt and off to the emergency room, where I was COVERED in bite and stings. They gave me some shot that hurt as bad as the ants themselves, (was probably cortisone) and then rubbed me all over with an anti itch/pain cream. I was sick for about a week afterwards, from all the venom I got, but was also given some anti venom as well. Boy I never forgot that and to this day I stay far and clear from red fire ants!!! That was when I learned why they call them ‘Fire Ants’,,,,,,you really do feel as if you are on fire 🔥!!!!
I unknowingly stepped on a nest of fire ants in North Carolina a few years back. Before I knew what was going on I was dancing around in my underwear trying desperately to get them off my legs. I thought I was going to pass out after receiving over 40 bites. This is a mistake I won’t ever make again .
This was extraordinary coverage on the fire ant. I am astonished by their tenacity and resilience. Yet The creator keeps all things in Balance with creatures we least expect. keeping them in check with a certain species of flies is amazing. Everything is designed whether seen or unseen with a purpose even if we lack the wisdom in understanding it. To provide this insightful segment on the fire ant was mind blowing. Bravo to the scientific researchers in exploring their tiny world.
I could be wrong but I do believe that they are here in Southeastern Indiana already. Gardening I have saw ant's that are new to me and they really hurt when they sting or bite.
They had a serious problem on Parris Island when I was there in the fall of 1976. 1x we're all sitting looking and watching a DI do Pugil Stick moves with his rifle on a platform and I'm watching with my rifle between my legs and I saw something move ON MY RIFLE & changed focus and OMG Red Fire Ants were EVERYWHERE. ALL OVER ME TO. I had inadvertently sat on an Ant hill. They were EVERYWHERE
Did you know that In the US alone, more than US$5 billion is spent annually on medical treatment, damage, and control in RIFA-infested areas. The ants cause approximately $750 million in damage annually to agricultural assets, including veterinarian bills and livestock loss, as well as crop loss. That’s crazy. See how power in numbers works? If we all pull together? Think about it. The things we could do…Back to the fire ant: so they sting? I heard they sting. Anyone has any experience with red fire ants?
do you mean your video is not copright,bro?
For me here in south Florida these ants are a constant menace...just mowing the lawn can be a painful, stressful experience...one thing I have to say about fire ants is "you don't have to *like* 'em, but you *gotta respect* 'em" 🐜🐜🐜
@@ceritaulama1666 what are you talking about? 🤔
P
poppy
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What I really wanna know.. what’s the best insecticide y’all know of? Lol I’m just trying to keep them out of my yard
I’ve seen a fire ant raft in a flood, loaded with larvae carefully carried on top. Amazing! My sister (sometimes too sympathetic): “Oh! We have to help them!” Me: “No, we don’t.”
as kids, we’d put lighter fluid and catch the mounds on fire 😬
@@Ashley-vm1bd Or burn them with a magnifying glass.
A little soapy water splashed on them will cause them to drown usually if you’re trying to reduce their population
😂sisters are the best
I fell in a fire ant nest in tampa fl. when I was 8. My parents stripped me in the yard and washed me with the water hose in front of my friends to get them all off! Worse day of ever lol!
🥺😢😭😅😅😅🤣🤣😂😂🫨😁😃🫡
It could have been worse if they started biting you and stinging lol but still sucks to be naked in front of your friends but good drinking story
Talk about a core memory 😅😂
Typical day in Florida imo 🤷 lol
I grew up in Florida. Kinda glad my parents just neglected us now.
"Dumped in an Alabama port" and the graphic pings Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana south of New Orleans. Brilliant.
🤣😅
Fire ants were first seen, not in the 1930s, but the 1920s in Mobile, Alabama. They have been in the United States, not for eighty, but for one hundred years. I became quite familiar with them while living in Birmingham, Alabama.
Without a doubt, THIS is the best made, most informative video of ANY genre “I” have EVER seen. Perhaps because I’m a nerd? I think not. I was mesmerized.
Fun fact:Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis, which includes over 200 species. Solenopsis are stinging ants, and most of their common names reflect this, for example, ginger ants and tropical fire ants. Many of the names shared by this genus are often used interchangeably to refer to other species of ant, such as the term red ant, mostly because of their similar coloration despite not being in the genus Solenopsis. Both Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus are common examples of non-Solenopsis ants being termed red ants.[2]
Any company's project manager: "it's hard to orderly manage groups of a hundred workers."
Ants: amateurs 😒
Totally!
I saw someone in FL found they liked sandy soil so he changed his whole yard into a garden of moist soft soil which doesn’t support their tunnels. He claimed that worked better than chemicals.
I live in Alabama in a rural.... grassy area... One day we will Cut the grass the next day ...by the time you come home from work in the evening... It'll be a huge ant mound in the middle of your yard Sometimes multiples... I have no idea how they Build up so quickly nor How they make/find all this sand like stuff ... because the mounds are normally sand color... It's an amazing feat for such tiny creatures
I don't know if this works with fireants, but cinnamon will work on other ants,if you don't believe that, go find a anthill and sprinkle some cinnamon around the entrance and watch how they react. They will leave, continue until they are completely gone. It worked in northern Michigan.
Huh. That’s interesting. I’ll try that. Thank you.
Also any type of grain that swells, it makes them bust open.
Thanks!
I found out around 16 years of age that I was allergic to the venom in the stings of these annoying things. Their venom is closely related to bee venom, of which I also happen to be allergic to. I have to carry an epi-pen with me everywhere.
Same with me. I had to spend a couple of days in the hospital when I was was jr high school. It was horrible. My legs swelling so much and the rash was very bad. Epipen always with me.
The key is sticking together literally and figuratively
I put my arm down on a nest, got stung hundreds of times and went into anaphylactic shock. I thought my days were over but thankfully, I came out of it. Yet I still find them fascinating. Incidentally, I think the reason I survived the shock is through thinking what's the best thing I can do not to get through this? I decided staying calm was my best chance. It obviously worked!
@Gary I don't know if I would have been able to do that. I like that you didn't say: "Thank God."
@@dennis-gk3zt nothing wrong with thanking God man.
@@edgarhernandez8003 Well such expression is covered by free speech. I simply appreciate the choice to not do so. Isn't it kind of self centered? The god allowed all kinds of horrible things, but he looked out for you?
@@edgarhernandez8003 Well if you thank the god that you survived a natural disaster, wouldn't you need to hold HIM responsible for the others who suffer horribly, and die early? Kind of inconsistent thinking?
@@edgarhernandez8003 ????????????
I’m at an Airbnb in Arizona and kept seeing these things. I fed them a muffin and they came and grabbed it all within an hour. Now I put some poison and they are swarming it… muahahaha. Goodbye ants
For me here in south Florida these ants are a constant menace...just mowing the lawn can be a painful, stressful experience...one thing I have to say about fire ants is "you don't have to *like* 'em, but you *gotta respect* 'em" 🐜🐜🐜
Amen, We Have Them Here In South Carolina. They Are A Royal Pain, Especially When It Rains A lot .
The little rattle snakes out in the estates worryied me much more than the ants but the snakes and also fear those bastards.
Here in NC they’re awful too. I’m really here to ask what people recommend to get them out of their yards lol
I use ortho broadcast and mound treatments, just wanna know if anyone has found anything better
@@belove751 get those flies as seen in the video. Ask your local agricultural extension office about how to obtain them.
Go at the mound head on, tilt the mower back towards you with the blades up over the .ound, then just drop the mower on the mound. The mower will probably stall out but the mund will be gone! They won't get on your legs!🫡
These are extraordinary creatures! Amazing how nature always surprises in more ways than we could ever imagine 💚
Totally. Anyone looking for perfection, look to nature.
If you have ever been stung by a bunch of them, extraordinary wouldn't be the word you would use.
@@unrealuknow864 ikr 😂
but just appreciating the creation in all
The rafting is incredible. Now how can we plug the plug?
We’ve got a pet colony. Knock on wood…I’ve never been stung or bitten. We’ve also got a colony of carpenter ants and I’m not kidding, they move out of the way every time I feed them! It really is amazing!
I flooded out an ant mound by the pool and hosed the wandering ants into the pool thinking they would all drown ... I was shocked and mad that they were rafting after a while so they got the hose again as I was thinking how does a creature with fire in it name overcome water
Lol @ rafting.
lol we finally learn how to not just pick a natural enemy of the invasive species, but a natural enemy that is harmless to anything but their target. really frickin good documentary!
When I lived in the Southeast before I moved to the Northern Midwest, before knowing they were fire ants I used to penetrate their mounds and before being told that they were fire ants I use to do it just to see the ants swarm the mound. After getting bitten and stung several times doing that I was then informed they were fire ants and trust me that you don't want to get bitten and stung by them. Thankfully there's no fire ants here in the Northern Midwest and in Northern States most of the ants aren't nearly as hostile as fire ants.
😂
I really hope these flies help reduce the fire ants population to a good degree so they wont cause problems as much as they have been. Fire ants are aggressive and need management so people and animals and everything else can be balanced.
There is a new invasive ant species that is actually displacing fire ants. They're called Crazy Ants. But they're actually worse than the Fire Ants, because they're far more aggressive and swarm in greater numbers. They do kill Fire Ants, but they'll go into your house, while Fire Ants tend to stay where they are.
@@JoseMolina-ij3xx I wonder if something will be done about these new ants.
Dude relax...theres too much to worry about in the world..we cant worry about ants right now.
All you need to know is whatever you do, DO NOT SUPPORT THOSE POISONS they try to get you to buy and put in your garden.
Why not get along?
Never count on others to help you relate with creatures around you!
@@gbh5912 Nature removes that which cannot survive. It doesn't "get along"
Growing up in south texas, one thing I noticed about fire ants is that when you accidentally step in a mound, you domt realize it until your leg is covered with them. It seems like they wait until they engulf you before they all simultaneously start to bite/sting you. I have always wondered if that was a coincidence or by design.
I had the same experience, cleaning up after a hurricane.Moving boxes they covered me and attack at the same time
They are clever
If it is soft mound I realize instantly that I have better move my foot just from the feel of it and long experience. but if they are under debri or a sidewalk it is trickier because you do not feel potential nest. I usually get an occasional bite under my clothing from what is likely an individual ant that is often in the full of a small shallow pus filled shallow wound that is what they normally leave behind if the ant is able to sting unimpeded.
sometime I use gasoline if the ants are under a concrete walk. Use enough and the colony is done in. Messes up their epicuticle and also the aquifer.
Dawn dish washing solution as used for fleas on dogs will likely also do in fireants and that is a gentler solution for fireants, but not so useful for hornets.
Clever gir... er... ants.
I've experienced that too. That behavior makes sense. Since the ants are carnivorous and often feed on insects and other creatures that might be many times their size, it's a good strategy for them to wait until many ants are on hand to have a better chance subdue the prey. Must be a chemical signal.
Ants are just plain awesome.
13:41 that ant be like "Get over here imma ea- nvm have a nice day."
I'm super interested in the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties of their venom.
Snake venom is used in mycology for breaking down DNA in order to allow combining features of two different mushroom variations. This would be an interesting experiment to do the same thing for much less money. Rattle snake venom can cost thousands
That song in the beginning was beautifully appropriate. Reminded me of a strategy turn based game.
Exceptionally well-crafted documentary! My thanks!
I've seen where people do sculptures with molten aluminium of ant nests... they look brilliant.
Millions of years of natural selection and evolution really made something special with these wow
Best entomological greetings from Ukraine! Thank you for interesting video stories about insects and natural phenomenons!
I keep digging them out. They keep coming back.
Having been in the deep south years ago I saw how fast they were spreading and how large the nests were.
Florida department of agriculture started breeding and releasing the parasitic flies after extensive testing that they wouldn't use any native ants as hosts.
Since a few years after releasing them (continually I assume) I never see the multiple large colonies I use to, and I'm talking not only urban areas but off through the fields and woods 🙂
not in tax-paying south florida...
@JD Rhea leave them in their house
You said "Not going after native ants"
What about the native fire ants we have here in the US.
@@AntsFlagstaff each species of parasitic fly goes after 1 specific species of ant. They literally cannot lay eggs in another species.
In addition the US fire ants are most certainly not solenopsis invicta.
Last every place on earth has native ants with names indicating fire, ginger etc which are not the invasive fire ants.
@@duanesamuelson2256 I am going to have to look up these flys and dive more into their mechanic's. All though when you said theres places with ants named fire ants and other names that are the same. The genera solenopsis is the fire ant, solenopsis. I can not have a specie of honey pot (Myrmecocystus) or Weaver ants (Oecophylla) I can not call them somthing else. If they are in that ganera they are Honey pots, They are Weaver ants, They are fire ants. With that being said all Solenopsis species are relitivly close to the same size and built relitivly the same. Just with a species that relitivly around the same built and everthing the flys could easily see the natives as the invasive ones over time (over time) just a little concern.
They live their lives out in a short term universe of pain and madness, yet they will probably still be here long after we are gone. " The meek shall inherit the earth".
These kids are careless. Inadvertently feeding the fire ants in more ways than one😂
thank you for sharing, with this video I can see the movements of so many ants❤️❤️❤️
Our pleasure and sooo glad you loved it!
Why u should use very high volume of the music? It's very disturbing...
This is a really great documentary!
These ants are masters at adaptation. Probably one of first in the whole animal kingdom.
I could not complete you documentary video, due to high volume of disturbing music...
I was covered head to toe in fire ants as a young adult. I was attempting to remove a tall bush with several woody limbs. Unknown to me there was a super mound right at the base of the bush. I was using a hatchet to take off the tall limbs and at some point I ended up stepping into the middle of the bush figuring I'd work from the inside out. I remember feeling like I was being covered in spider webs while I was chopping away and then I looked at my bare arms and I couldn't even see my skin for all the fire ants covering them. Suddenly realizing what was happening I looked down and my entire lower body was a solid mass of fire ants.
I immediately dropped the ax and fought my way out of the entangling bush. They had started stinging any bare flesh they could find. My mother heard me yelling from inside the house. All I could do is run towards the house swatting my arms, face and head like a crazy person and I just yelled " FIRE ANTS!" over and over as I ran. So by the time I reached the gate to the yard my mother already had a water hose with a sprayer on it's end and she just yelled for me to strip!
I was dancing around swatting and yelling and peeling off my clothes as fast as I could while my mother continually sprayed me up and down with the fully open nozzle up and down my body as I continued spinning and stripping of all my clothes until I was butt naked and it still took her a few minutes to finally get them all off of me. My body was covered in pimply red welt's that were still stinging like I was on fire even though the water from the garden hose was almost ice cold on my hot skin. I was embarrassed to be naked like that in front of my mother but the fire ants were worse than any kind of humiliation I might have felt. Once she was sure she'd gotten all of them off of me. She took me inside and gave me a clean towel to cover my embarrassment and had me sit on her bed while she began applying medications to my incredible number of stings. I of course applied the medical lotion to my private areas myself after she was done. I felt quite sick for the rest of the evening but I was much better the next morning. Only a few had made it to my face and a couple had gotten me on my eyelids. But I was extremely lucky to get away with such little real damage.
Does it bother anyone else to watch a video while the speaker is hard to hear because of the back ground music and noises. love these videos but can only watch for 5 minits.
Thank you. It’s a problem with several of the documentaries we license. This will improve. Promise!
Definitely grew up with these in Texas and have had my fair share of encounters with them, that sting was surely enough to make me keep my distance from a kid to now an adult. They’re going to take over the world! 😈
Oh wow. Okay. Thanks for sharing! I grew up in So California - only normal ants there back then. It’s probably changed by now. I’m guessing it’s a bit like a jelly fish. Their stings definitely hurt.
If any one ant is going to do that, it's gonna be the Argentine. But yeah, hopefully not
Are you sure they were not harvester ants, the horned lizard eats those.
I live in Florida and they are a nightmare in every way.Guy who works for a pest company said they have to make new and stronger pesticides every year cause the ants become immune to the old one.
Pour few buckets of cold water on their nest
@@DipenKumar27 Thanks I will try that.Bug guy sprays the nests but they just seem to make a new one 40 ft away.
@@randquadrozzi5850 They'll remain We regularly do it so They eventually move to another location
@@randquadrozzi5850 Don't finish them entirely coz they keep termites, cockroach, leeches away
You can farm some chickens 30-40 chickens can keep all bugs away 🔥🔥🔥
@@DipenKumar27 Yes we actually had 12 stray chickens take up residence at our house after my kids fed them and they do peck around a lot looking for insects
Sorry, I can't hear a thing anyone is saying, the BACKGROUND music is too loud.
That was incredibly informative, thanks for the production and share!
I guess Minnesota winters have a significant upside :)
i love how no one mentioned that split second of the sister spraying her other sister with the hose right up the nose lmao
I went into anaphylactic shock from ant bites when I was 13 and had to be rushed to the hospital but when I was younger there were no fire ants.
I had fire ants last year until a new ant showed up and kicked them out of my whole area. The new ant makes no mounds, does not sting/bite, but in winter come in the house looking for water/food. They are tiny. I can finally walk barefoot in my yard again with no chemicals, and only minimal spray in the house. Edit: I'm in Southeast Texas.
They're called Crazy Ants. They're worse news than Fire Ants. They'll go into your house and short out the electrical equipment and cause damage to the house. You may be able to walk outside barefoot, but you won't be able to come back home to sleep, when they invade it.
Do they stink when you crush them?
@MsBaztastic Sounds like a Louis Lamour wild west story. You hired a gunman to drive out the outlaws?
I've seen that feature of ant in Colorado. When a larger ant gets by one it's like they don't see it but then when it gets soo close it bumps it like, the larger ant flees fast.
Argentinian ants most likely
the more you learn .... i didnt actually realize that the fire ants that i grew up in MS with were invasive ... no wonder we hated them so much. (not to mention that for some reason i had the best ability to find random nests without even looking for them and then getting rashes 2-3 times a week)
We certainly can learn a lot from ants.
I've been looking for this documentary to watch it again for YEARS! Thank you!!
My god, ants are fantastic animals
I fell in a fire ant pit in Central America on vacation when I was 7 it was scary lol
i was a lineman in Florida and did a lot of underground repairs. Almost every equipment cabinet we had was full of them and almost all of us expierenced stripping down to our underwear in public covered in them. Night time in rain was the worst with floating masses and not seeing them until it was to late.
A friend's dad was a taxidermist when I was a teen, and I'd go to his house, and there'd be deer heads all over the yard with a tire around it chained to the ground. I finally figured out he was putting the head in fire ant nests and using the ants to clean the skull, and the tire was to keep the dogs from dragging it off.
😮 okay. That makes sense. Ants are excellent workers
thank you for documentary sir ❤️🙏
I was destroyed by fire 🐜 as a kid playing in the sand. Thank goodness I was close to home. I swear its still the fastest ive ever ran
🥺😢😭😁😃🫡
Great idea leading ants up to your window with sugar water 👍🏼
When there is an ant raft, do the ants under water cycle up eventually to get air?
Yes they do rotate
When you see them floating in the water is the perfect time to destroy them. It takes out the queen and everybody.
@@neganrex5693 and you would want to do this because?....
@@thatsassyrepublican because they’re extremely invasive. I’d never want them to roam free but I do have 4 colonies of them.
They don’t just sting and bite, they leave pustules that are painful to the touch.
I bought a tent from a thrift store and the first night I pitched it, I had forgotten about the candy wrapper in my pocket. Well,the fire ants reminded me it was still there
The song at the beginning sounds like the theme to House Hunters when they’re deciding which house they’re gonna chose 💀
you’ve got a point there
fire ants are a lot more organised and resourceful than are humans
I have a fire aunt...
Her name is Norma and her fiery, raspy voice certainly sets things alight.. 😮🔥♀️👠
A word to all.....I grew up in the Deep South, USA where Fire Ants fiercely reign. When a child I stepped into a Fire Ant bed and they bit me terribly. An older man quickly rubbed a degreasing hand product for auto mechanics called "GoJo" on the bites and the pain went away. Since then it's always worked for me but I never looked up why.
Ouch! Glad you had someone nearby to save you! Thanks for sharing!
An ingredient in Gojo is Sodium Hydroxide which is a base. That base neutralized the acidic venom in the fire ant stings
Do you mean stung you?
Ammonia, in a spray bottle, works even better. Same principle, use a ph base to neutralize the acidic venom. But since ammonia is in a liquid solution, it penetrates the puncture wound of the sting better than a gel substance. I live in the Northeast US, no fire ants up here (yet); I carry a small spray bottle of ammonia with me outside to deal with wasp and hornet stings. Works great if you spray the ammonia on the sting immediately, the longer you wait to spray, the less effective the relief. Also important , within a minute or two after spraying, wash the ammonia off your skin.
These guys are incredibly smart
Great documentary 👍😀🇸🇪
When I was stationed at Charleston AFB in South Carolina, I conducted a survey (as a civil engineer) and fire 🔥 ants attacked me. Every where they bit me left a a little pus pocket. 😊
i am from pakistan i love your docmentry cannel
Very good entertainment, very informative! Loved it!! more please!!
I once saw a fire ant hill 6 feet tall in Georgia... I poked it with a large stick, and OUT THEY CAME, thousands of them, and pissed off as can be... I came back about an hour later, and the hole I created was completely repaired, like it never happened... TEAMWORK...
Please cut the music! It is very annoying!
20:20 got filmed like that few times can just imagine that "oh can you stand there and make it like you discuss or work on something" kek.
Two minutes in, this video totally gives me the willies.
Its fascinating to see the files in action!!!
I remember one of my very first memories was when I was still in diapers, and was wondering around the front yard of my home. It was summer time and I had on only my diapers and a little tank top. Around the side of the driveway there were these planter boxes that had these enormous juniper trees, and geraniums. Suddenly I saw these little red rubies moving all around. They were so pretty and sparkly in the summer sun. I went up to the and sat right down to pick them up and play with them, suddenly I was attacked by these little red rubies,,,,,aka Fire Ants 🐜 and they launched an attack like I had never seen. I was SWARMED by them and every one was stinging me and biting me, omg the pain was AWFUL, OMG!!!! I cried out and my mother came running only to find me covered in red!! In just about a second she realized they were red fire ants, and tore off my diaper and my tank top and hosed me down with the garden hose, then dried me off put on a fresh diaper and a t shirt and off to the emergency room, where I was COVERED in bite and stings. They gave me some shot that hurt as bad as the ants themselves, (was probably cortisone) and then rubbed me all over with an anti itch/pain cream. I was sick for about a week afterwards, from all the venom I got, but was also given some anti venom as well. Boy I never forgot that and to this day I stay far and clear from red fire ants!!! That was when I learned why they call them ‘Fire Ants’,,,,,,you really do feel as if you are on fire 🔥!!!!
This was n excellent documentary, flowed so naturally, it was pretty mesmerizing while also very informative! thank you!
I always get itchy when I watch these documentaries.😮
Watching those scientists 'drowning' those fire ants reminded me how science and ethics have a weird relationship 😂
Thanks for the great work free documentary nature .more about insects and online trip documentary in Uganda
They’re actually quite amazing and no more destructive than human beings to be fair! Maybe we don’t like the competition! 🤷♂️
This has more commercials than live TV
I live in the south thier nests are like land mines im allergic to fire ant venom the bites are pure terror!!!
Thank you for interesting video. Best entomological greetings.
can I take footage from your video to use in my videos?
We should try Pangolens, Anteaters, and Ardvarks. It wouldn't hurt for us to try.
I unknowingly stepped on a nest of fire ants in North Carolina a few years back. Before I knew what was going on I was dancing around in my underwear trying desperately to get them off my legs. I thought I was going to pass out after receiving over 40 bites. This is a mistake I won’t ever make again .
yikes! that sounds painful 😖
This was extraordinary coverage on the fire ant. I am astonished by their tenacity and resilience. Yet The creator keeps all things in Balance with creatures we least expect. keeping them in check with a certain species of flies is amazing. Everything is designed whether seen or unseen with a purpose even if we lack the wisdom in understanding it. To provide this insightful segment on the fire ant was mind blowing. Bravo to the scientific researchers in exploring their tiny world.
Glory to God!!!!
I could be wrong but I do believe that they are here in Southeastern Indiana already. Gardening I have saw ant's that are new to me and they really hurt when they sting or bite.
Wow..fly..incredible..reminds me of how the bot fly reproduces
Thanks for sharing, great documentary
13:01 great BG music starts.
We have a lot to learn from them
Nothing scares me as much as an ant swarm. The slow inevitability to kill anything that can't move away in time is the stuff of nightmares.
If they were the size of dogs, they would be the dominant species, not us.
If fire ants were the size of dogs, there would BE no other species lol
They had a serious problem on Parris Island when I was there in the fall of 1976. 1x we're all sitting looking and watching a DI do Pugil Stick moves with his rifle on a platform and I'm watching with my rifle between my legs and I saw something move ON MY RIFLE & changed focus and OMG Red Fire Ants were EVERYWHERE. ALL OVER ME TO. I had inadvertently sat on an Ant hill. They were EVERYWHERE
Did you get yelled at?
The ant ball acts like a phospholipid in an aquaous solution.
@7:00 A few hundred feet to a few miles, sir, thats a big difference lmao.
Wonderful documentary .