Ants-Nature's Secret Power
I. Name of program and producer
Documentary Title: Ants: Nature’s Secret Power
Producer: Walter Kohler
Co-Production of ADI MAYER FILM and ORF
II. Viewed on http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ants-natures-secret-power/
III. Notes
Ants are powerful predators:
• Ants may live in colonies of up to 100 thousand and like a human city they need constant supply of food.
• They kill large insects and carry them back to base.
• In one year a single colony consumes over 10 million insects.
• They consume more meat than lions, tigers, and wolves combined.
•
Strong survival instincts:
• Life of individual ant is not important but the survival of the colony is critical.
• As a colony, ants protect themselves effectively even against large predators like bears.
• They first protect their larvae and pupae, the future of the colony.
• They squirt acid on any predator that attacks their colony.
• Shows bear being driven off from ant colony and attacking bees nest. Bees drive off bear but their exposed nest is taken over by the ants. The bee meat is given to the ant larvae. Adult ants have different diet.
Symbiotic relationships:
• Ants and aphids have symbiotic relationship. Aphids provide honey dew to ants and ants protect the aphids.
• Mealy bugs provide ants with honey dew. In return, ants carry the mealy bugs to food sources or plants that have plenty of sap.
• Ants also have mutually beneficial relationship with carnivorous plants in Indonesia. Small ants live on carnivorous plants in Indonesia and eat insects trapped by the plant. The ants protect the plant from herbivores.
Characteristics:
• Ants can support 100 times their own weight, consume vast amounts of food, and run huge distances.
• They cooperate and become like a superpower
• Ants have a liquid that allows them to grip smooth surfaces. E.g. weaver ants need the strong grip to construct their colonies.
• Evolution of Australian bulldog ants – they evolved from wasps more than
Documentary Title: Ants: Nature’s Secret Power
Producer: Walter Kohler
Co-Production of ADI MAYER FILM and ORF
II. Viewed on http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ants-natures-secret-power/
III. Notes
Ants are powerful predators:
• Ants may live in colonies of up to 100 thousand and like a human city they need constant supply of food.
• They kill large insects and carry them back to base.
• In one year a single colony consumes over 10 million insects.
• They consume more meat than lions, tigers, and wolves combined.
•
Strong survival instincts:
• Life of individual ant is not important but the survival of the colony is critical.
• As a colony, ants protect themselves effectively even against large predators like bears.
• They first protect their larvae and pupae, the future of the colony.
• They squirt acid on any predator that attacks their colony.
• Shows bear being driven off from ant colony and attacking bees nest. Bees drive off bear but their exposed nest is taken over by the ants. The bee meat is given to the ant larvae. Adult ants have different diet.
Symbiotic relationships:
• Ants and aphids have symbiotic relationship. Aphids provide honey dew to ants and ants protect the aphids.
• Mealy bugs provide ants with honey dew. In return, ants carry the mealy bugs to food sources or plants that have plenty of sap.
• Ants also have mutually beneficial relationship with carnivorous plants in Indonesia. Small ants live on carnivorous plants in Indonesia and eat insects trapped by the plant. The ants protect the plant from herbivores.
Characteristics:
• Ants can support 100 times their own weight, consume vast amounts of food, and run huge distances.
• They cooperate and become like a superpower
• Ants have a liquid that allows them to grip smooth surfaces. E.g. weaver ants need the strong grip to construct their colonies.
• Evolution of Australian bulldog ants – they evolved from wasps more than