Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen - Walter R. Tschinkel

122,457 views

Mating frenzies, sperm hoards, and brood raids: the life of a fire ant queen - Walter R. Tschinkel with tags fire ants, queen fire ant, queen ant, queen ant colony, inside the ant colony, ant colony, fire ant colony, bugs, science, myrmecology, entomology, brood raids, mating, ants mating, mating season, nuptial flight, nuptial flight ants, ant armies, ant matriarchy, ant attack, ant bite, insects, animals, evolution, social biology, education, animation, ted, ted-ed, ted ed, teded, ted education, walter r. tschinkel, lisa vertudaches

Follow a queen fire ant as she builds a colony, protects it from neighboring ant armies and fends off would-be usurpers vying for her throne. --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.Animator's website: https://lisavertudaches.com/Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterSupport us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagramView full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/mating-frenzies-sperm-hoards-and-brood-raids-the-life-of-a-fire-ant-queen-walter-r-tschinkelThank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Ivan Todorovi, Alex Schenkman, Brittiny Elman, Ryohky Araya, Paul Coupe, David Douglass, Ricardo Paredes, Bill Feaver, Eduardo Briceo, Arturo De Leon, Christophe Dessalles, Janie Jackson, Dr Luca Carpinelli, Heather Slater, Yuh Saito, Quentin Le Menez, Mattia Veltri, Fabian Amels, Sandra Tersluisen, PnDAA, Hugo Legorreta, Zhexi Shan, Gustavo Mendoza, Brbara Nazar, Josh Engel, Natalia Rico, Andrea Feliz, Eysteinn Gunason, Bernardo Paulo, Victor E Karhel, Sydney Evans, Latora Slydell, Oyuntsengel Tseyen-Oidov, Noel Situ, Elliot Poulin, emily lam, Juan, Jordan Tang, Kent Logan, Alexandra Panzer, Laura Cameron Keith, Jen, Ellen Spertus, Cailin Ramsey, Markus Goldhacker, Leora Allen, Andras Radnothy, Chris, Arpita Singh and Vijayalakshmi.