Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen
-
0:07 - 0:11It’s June, just after a heavy rainfall,
-
0:11 - 0:16and the sky is filling with creatures
we wouldn’t normally expect to find there. -
0:16 - 0:19At first glance,
this might be a disturbing sight. -
0:19 - 0:24But for the lucky males and females
of Solenopsis invicta, -
0:24 - 0:29otherwise known as fire ants,
it’s a day of romance. -
0:29 - 0:31This is the nuptial flight,
-
0:31 - 0:35when thousands of reproduction-capable
male and female ants, -
0:35 - 0:39called alates,
take wing for the first and last time. -
0:39 - 0:44But even for successful males
who manage to avoid winged predators, -
0:44 - 0:47this mating frenzy will prove lethal.
-
0:47 - 0:53And for a successfully mated female,
her work is only beginning. -
0:53 - 0:57Having secured a lifetime supply of sperm
from her departed mate, -
0:57 - 1:02our new queen must now single-handedly
start an entire colony. -
1:02 - 1:03Descending to the ground,
-
1:03 - 1:07she searches for a suitable spot
to build her nest. -
1:07 - 1:11Ideally, she can find somewhere
with loose, easy-to-dig soil— -
1:11 - 1:15like farmland
already disturbed by human activity. -
1:15 - 1:19Once she finds the perfect spot,
she breaks off her wings— -
1:19 - 1:23creating the stubs
that establish her royal status. -
1:23 - 1:28Then, she starts digging
a descending tunnel ending in a chamber. -
1:28 - 1:32Here the queen begins laying her eggs,
about ten per day, -
1:32 - 1:36and the first larvae hatch within a week.
-
1:36 - 1:37Over the next three weeks,
-
1:37 - 1:42the new queen relies on a separate batch
of unfertilized eggs -
1:42 - 1:44to nourish both herself and her brood,
-
1:44 - 1:48losing half her body weight
in the process. -
1:48 - 1:50Thankfully, after about 20 days,
-
1:50 - 1:54these larvae grow
into the first generation of workers, -
1:54 - 1:59ready to forage for food
and sustain their shrunken queen. -
1:59 - 2:01Her daughters
will have to work quickly though— -
2:01 - 2:04returning their mother
to good health is urgent. -
2:04 - 2:06In the surrounding area,
-
2:06 - 2:11dozens of neighboring queens
are building their own ant armies. -
2:11 - 2:14These colonies
have peacefully coexisted so far, -
2:14 - 2:16but once workers appear,
-
2:16 - 2:20a phenomenon known as brood-raiding
begins. -
2:20 - 2:23Workers from nests
up to several meters away -
2:23 - 2:26begin to steal offspring
from our queen. -
2:26 - 2:28Our colony retaliates,
-
2:28 - 2:31but new waves of raiders
from even further away -
2:31 - 2:33overwhelm the workers.
-
2:33 - 2:38Within hours, the raiders have taken
our queen’s entire brood supply -
2:38 - 2:40to the largest nearby nest—
-
2:40 - 2:44and the queen’s surviving daughters
abandon her. -
2:44 - 2:46Chasing her last chance of survival,
-
2:46 - 2:50the queen follows the raiding trail
to the winning nest. -
2:50 - 2:55She fends off other losing queens
and the defending nest’s workers, -
2:55 - 2:58fighting her way
to the top of the brood pile. -
2:58 - 3:02Her daughters help their mother succeed
where other queens fail— -
3:02 - 3:06defeating the reigning monarch,
and usurping the brood pile. -
3:06 - 3:09Eventually,
all the remaining challengers fail, -
3:09 - 3:13until only one queen—
and one brood pile— remains. -
3:13 - 3:18Now presiding over several hundred workers
in the neighborhood’s largest nest, -
3:18 - 3:23our victorious queen begins
aiding her colony in its primary goal: -
3:23 - 3:25reproduction.
-
3:25 - 3:30For the next several years,
the colony only produces sterile workers. -
3:30 - 3:34But once their population
exceeds about 23,000, -
3:34 - 3:36it changes course.
-
3:36 - 3:38From now on, every spring,
-
3:38 - 3:42the colony will produce
fertile alate males and females. -
3:42 - 3:46The colony spawns these larger ants
throughout the early summer, -
3:46 - 3:49and returns to worker production
in the fall. -
3:49 - 3:53After heavy rainfalls,
these alates take to the skies, -
3:53 - 3:58and spread their queen’s genes
up to a couple hundred meters downwind. -
3:58 - 4:01But to contribute
to this annual mating frenzy, -
4:01 - 4:06the colony must continue to thrive
as one massive super-organism. -
4:06 - 4:10Every day, younger ants feed the queen
and tend to the brood, -
4:10 - 4:14while older workers
forage for food and defend the nest. -
4:14 - 4:16When intruders strike,
-
4:16 - 4:20these older warriors fend them off
using poisonous venom. -
4:20 - 4:23After rainfalls,
the colony comes together, -
4:23 - 4:26using the wet dirt to expand their nest.
-
4:26 - 4:29And when a disastrous flood
drowns their home, -
4:29 - 4:33the sisters band together
into a massive living raft— -
4:33 - 4:36carrying their queen to safety.
-
4:36 - 4:37But no matter how resilient,
-
4:37 - 4:40the life of a colony must come to an end.
-
4:40 - 4:44After about 8 years,
our queen runs out of sperm -
4:44 - 4:47and can no longer replace dying workers.
-
4:47 - 4:50The nest’s population dwindles,
and eventually, -
4:50 - 4:52they’re taken over
by a neighboring colony. -
4:52 - 4:57Our queen’s reign is over,
but her genetic legacy lives on.
- Title:
- Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen
- Speaker:
- Walter R. Tschinkel
- Description:
-
View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/mating-frenzies-sperm-hoards-and-brood-raids-the-life-of-a-fire-ant-queen-walter-r-tschinkel
In the spring, just after a heavy rainfall, male and female fire ants swarm the skies for a day of romance, known as the nuptial flight. Thousands of reproduction-capable ants take part in a mating frenzy, and for one successfully mated female, her work is only beginning. Walter R. Tschinkel details how the new queen builds a colony and protects it from neighboring ant armies.
Lesson by Walter R. Tschinkel, directed by Lisa Vertudaches.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:59
Elise Haadsma approved English subtitles for Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen | ||
Elise Haadsma accepted English subtitles for Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen | ||
lauren mcalpine edited English subtitles for Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen |