Awesome BBC documentary about honey pot ants: (in HD!)

[Ichinisan]

That was awesome. I think the beetle at the end is the same one that stayed there the whole time eating them and whittling the colony down. Most likely the reason for the downfall not the hot drought. Because at the end they still had very full drones about to burst.

Supposedly, the downfall is because the other colony was closer to the trough and had easier access to water and resources, so their numbers stayed strong while the corral colony population decreased.

 

[jaqie]

they were weaker from the lack of water is what I got.

 

[T9D]

Supposedly, the downfall is because the other colony was closer to the trough and had easier access to water and resources, so their numbers stayed strong while the corral colony population decreased.

That's ultimately what I meant. They couldn't fight off the other colony. They may have had a chance without the diminished numbers even though the other colony seemed larger in actual size per ant. If they had larger numbers like in their peak they possibly could have been ok. The colony was very small by this time.

The lack of water couldn't have been too bad since they did have reserves in some of those really fat ants they showed getting dragged out.

 

[jaqie]

those had food minus water - water was what they were short in. in first introducing them they even say those larder ants removed water from their supplies they held inside them to hold more concentrated food.

 

[Zeze]

It's amazing how they invested no less than 8 years to film this.

How the hell? That's one dedicated team, funding, and patience just to get an hour commentary.

 

[TheShiz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8pLVlEkmJk

I love stuff like this! I really wish there was a sequel to Planet Earth & Life.

have you watched any of Attenborough's older series? they are all excellent, no matter the age.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough_filmography

 

[Jeff7]

It's amazing how they invested no less than 8 years to film this.

How the hell? That's one dedicated team, funding, and patience just to get an hour commentary.

The hour-long documentaries are likely only the tip of this that pokes through into the public sphere. The information gained otherwise is surely used by other researchers and scientists.

Certainly a lot of footage to go through though.



Also, the BBC announcer who does the brief "show that's coming up" voiceover during the credits...ahhhh. Love the voice.