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A tropical hill forest in east Africa

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a place where animal communities coexist

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a natural balance between predators and prey

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It's always been this way

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But in this part of the forest,
things are about to change

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An extraordinary predator is moving in

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One that will ravage this forest

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probably the most formidable killer on earth

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It's not an individual but an entire army

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an army of ants

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This elite fighting force is a super organism

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20 million sisters and a few males acting as one

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the largest single family on the planet

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The head of the family is a new queen

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She'll produce the next generation and
the army must keep her offspring alive

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They must hunt successfully
or the colony cannot grow

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Our story is set in a
parallel world to our own

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a place where miniture monsters roam,
vilence is the law

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and the most numerous and powerful survive

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This is the bug-eats-bug world
of the dreaded Siafu,

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the African driver ants

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Driver ants don't have a permanent home

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they are nomads

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Every 23 days or so, they move from
one part of the forest to another

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and now they are here, somewhere

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exploring new hunting grounds and
searching for a temporary home

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the neighbors from hell

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Yet despite their huge numbers,
you'd hardly notice they were here at all

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They shun the light, operating down there

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mainly amongst the dead leaves
on the forest floor

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They're swarm raiders,
spreading through the forest

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searching relentlessly for anything that moves

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A super predator with a mother of all apetites

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By hunting in such enormous group, the ants can
bring down creatures much larger than themselves

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When one ant finds prey,
she releases a chemical alarm signal

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and within seconds hundreds
of ants join the attack

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They vary considerably in size

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The largest is a soldier, half an inch long

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and like all the workers she has no eyes

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She's totally blind

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She finds her way about using her two antenae

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each covered in millions
of hairs and sensory pits

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alive to smells, viberations and touch

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Her brain is minute

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Instead, her large head is packed with muscles
that move her gigantic razor-sharp jaws

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Her job is to protect the colony
for even driver ants have enemies

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And when heavy duty cutting is required

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her powerful jaws can slice through
a victim's skin like a knife through butter

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Most of the attacking and butchering though
is the job of the medium worker

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She's about half the size of a soldier, also blind

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and equipped with smaller but tooth-studded jaws

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Between them, soldiers and medium workers
can bring down almost anything

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including creatures as large
and powerful as a grasshopper

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They rely on overwhelming numbers and
sheer persistence to capture their prey

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They also provide most of the transport

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Skittering above their feet
is one of the smaller workers

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Blind like the others and
just an 8th of an inch long

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she's a general helper who can do any job
from butchering to building, to cleaning

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All 3 types cooperate to carry, push or
pull their prey along the supply lines

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from the swarm's raiding front to their next home

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During day one in the new territory

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the advance party has had some success

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The ant army like any army marches on its stomach

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And the first provisions have been stashed away
ready for the arrival of the rest of the colony

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Already the first wave of workers
is moving into the forest

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They follow chemical trails that last for about
a day laid down by the ants ahead of them

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Their new home is in a hollow
at the base of a fallen tree

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But the property is still only a building site

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Construction workers enlarge the area while
ground workers shift debris from the main chamber

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These tiny creatures are strong

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Each is carrying a load that in human terms would
be more than enough for an Olympic weight-lifter

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Together, they'll shift up to 80 pounds
of soil in a couple of days

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And they'll have to work fast

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for the main colony is beginning
to trickle in from the old nest site

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When they enter the new chamber,

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some of the workers link together
to form long garlands of ants

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that join floor to ceiling

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They start to form a protective bivouac shaped
like a large round basket inside the nest hollow

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And the whole structure will
be made entirely of living ants

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All they're waiting for now
is enough workers to fill the gaps

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Between the old nest and the new,

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road gangs prepare the route along
which the rest of the colony will trek

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They excavate

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build embankments

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and dig tunnels, always trying
to keep themselves hidden from view

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They clear the highway of large pieces
of soil that might slow down the traffic

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And a hungry workforce must eat

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due to their enormous jaws
the larger ones can't feed themselves

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so smaller ants spoon-feed them

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But first they must catch the food

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The advance party has uncovered earthworms
from under the leaf litter

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The ants search for weak points between segaments

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Their feelers constantly tasting and touching

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When they've found the right spot, their jaws close
with the equivalent force of a car crushing machine

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and one worm becomes two

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It's been divided into handy chunks

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and then hauled back to camp

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All the meat is fast track to the kitchen
orderlies deep in the nest

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Here, it's choped, chewed and
distributed to the other ants

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And while the advance party
ensures the larder is full

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the rest of the huge family prepares
to leave the old nest site

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It's day two and the massive
excuation is underway

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The ants march along well-worn tracks

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originally the foraging trails
between the old nest and the swarm front

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but now the main roads along
which queen and colony will pass

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Their track is about the length of
two football pitches laid end to end

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And they're not travelling empty-handed

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Each ant carries a lava or
a pupa hung below her body

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The equivalent of us running a marathon while carrying
a sack of potatoes and not stopping for a rest

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The entire emigration can take up to 3 days

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It seems chaotic

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but every ant in this extraordinary melee
knows exactly what she's doing

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Giant soldiers with their massive jaws line the route

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so the workers with their precious cargo
can travel safely along a living avenue

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They're passing at a rate of 250,000 ants an hour

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Some unwittingly carry infiltrators

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Even tiny ants are host to even tinier mites

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The invading army is building in numbers

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Traveling with her subjects is the queen

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At 2 inches long, she is
the largest ant in the world

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And she is a new queen

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When her mother's colony
grew too large and divided

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half the workers switched their allegiance

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and now accompany her
on her first emigration

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Her enormous bulk has been
coaxed along the trail

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and now she takes her place
at the heart of the nest

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The queen is in her palace

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and what a palace it's become

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It's a living bivouac

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a nest made entirely of ants

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All its internal walls are made of ants

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all its corridors and chambers
constructed of living bricks

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And when they are all assembled in
their new stronghold, they form one of
the largest concentrations of ants on earth

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Protected by these living walls
are the nurseries where wave after wave
of brood carriers deliver their load

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By the end of day three,
they're packed with larvae and pupae

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In the royal chamber, the queen
has yet to restart her normal duties

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Before her journey, she stopped egg production
in order to slim dow and make traveling easier

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Now, like a virgin queen

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she produces a special scent that attracts
winged male ants who fly in from other nests

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The male is also enormous,
on a similar scale to the queen

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The scents she produces are irrestable

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Just a few molecules will
grab a male's attention

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He searches for a way into the nest

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But a guard patrol has found him

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and at first the other ants see him as food

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He's actually in mortal danger

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The army smothers him as if he were prey

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but their attentions falter

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He also produces scents to demonstrate
his fitness to be consort

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If he passes muster, he'll be accepted

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and if he doesn't, he'll be for the chop

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They try to clip his wings,
so he'll fit through the nest entrance

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but he cooperates

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using spikes at the end of his abdomen,
he pulls one off himself

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Nothing is wasted

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even a wing has some nutritional value

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The rest of the workers take him into the nest

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he has their support,
at least for the time being

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he's on probation

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Until he actually mates with the queen,
he could still be attacked

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Another wing is removed

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He'll soon be presentable
for his audiance with the queen

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It's day 5 in the new territory

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There's no nuptial flight

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instead the queen's new consort is
guided directly to the royal chamber

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He's not the first consort to the queen

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and he probably won't be the last

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Driver ant queens are, for ants,
unusually promiscuous

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he'll be one of many suitors
she'll entertain during her lifetime

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His job done, he retires from
the royal chamber and dies

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a short but productive life

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for he'll father several million
new ants with hungry mouths

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The precious building for the colony
to provide more and more food

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The raiders head west

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and they don't stay on the ground

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There's plenty to eat up here in the trees

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A male hornbill cements his family
into a hole in a trunk

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leaving a small gap through which he passes food

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It will keep out tree snakes but not ants

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Driver ants would strip the flesh from the female
hornbill and her chicks in a matter of hours

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He's understandably nervous

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The ants are as adept at climbing
as they're at running

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As long as the forest is dark and humid

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they seem as at home in the trees
as they are on the ground

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The army is close

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but not close enough

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If the ants climb too high
and are too spread out

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they'll be too few to overwhelm prey

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This nest is out of reach

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her family is safe

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But there's plenty more prey up here

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Slugs are fair game for dirver ants

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they don't run away

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The first ant makes contact

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And then another

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others come running

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The slug tries to sit out the attack

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There're so many ants

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The victim uses the only escape route left to it

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The ants fall too

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they often use this unconventional way
to get down from the trees

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But the unforturnate slug has fallen
from the frying pan into the fire

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And aweful lot of ants
are milling about down here

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They smother their prey

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But the slug has a trick up its sleeve

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It may be slow, but it's well-protected

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Its entire body is covered
in a thick and noxious slime

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It's so glutinous that's once their jaws
are in, they can't get them out

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Other ants seem to give a helping hand

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But this one is firmly stuck

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Try as she might, she just can't get away

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For some, it's not just
their jaws that are trapped

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She's almost free

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then something remarkable happens

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Some of the workers begin
to bring particles of soil

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and place them on the slug

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In this way, the slime is soaked up
like ink on blotting paper

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Gradually the slug disappears
under a riving mass of earth and ants

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With its protective coat neutralised,
the ants attack the slug underneath

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Slowly the victim is sliced up

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Piece by piece, small chunks are pulled away

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As the flesh is removed, the butchers
switch roles and become transporters

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They carry the food along
the foraging trails back to camp

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the larvae will be fed tonight

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By day 10, the queen resumes
her primary role as super mother

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the ultimate egg-laying machine

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Food is served to her at one end

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and eggs appear at the other

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She produces a staggering 2 million eggs a month

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A palace of staff bustles around her

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collecting packages of eggs
grooming her constantly

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She's the colony's most valueable asset

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a link to the future

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The ants around her are quite
prepared to die for her

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not because of any love for a mother

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but simply because they're protecting the blueprints
that makes them what they are and what they do

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They pick up clumps of the precious eggs
and gently carry them away to the nursery

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The already huge ant population
is increasing exponentially

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and the demand for food
is growing astronomically

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There's a need for a greater
than ever increasing rations

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Having raided to the north and west and eliminated
every living thing that slithers or crawls

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the column heads south

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The raid takes them into a wet and swampy area

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This is no deterrent

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diver ants are proficient at
crossing difficult terrain

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But a river is something even they can't manage

247
00:26:18,653 --> 00:26:21,202
They've reached the southern edge
of their territory

248
00:26:21,203 --> 00:26:24,327
and water and ants don't mix

249
00:26:40,866 --> 00:26:43,308
They head back inland

250
00:26:43,309 --> 00:26:45,288
and straight into another barrier

251
00:26:48,063 --> 00:26:50,642
But a shallow pond is no obstacle

252
00:26:52,617 --> 00:26:55,656
In order to cross, the ants simply build a bridge

253
00:27:12,018 --> 00:27:15,541
It's made out of leaves and the ants themselves

254
00:27:15,542 --> 00:27:17,111
a living bridge

255
00:27:32,166 --> 00:27:37,252
The swarm raiders stream across the pond
but the raid is failing

256
00:27:37,253 --> 00:27:39,003
They're carrying little food

257
00:27:39,835 --> 00:27:41,612
the ants retreat

258
00:27:49,051 --> 00:27:51,132
But fortunes change

259
00:27:51,133 --> 00:27:55,826
the raiding party has flushed out
what seems an unassailable quarry

260
00:28:04,939 --> 00:28:07,597
Freshwater crabs are common in the forest,

261
00:28:07,598 --> 00:28:10,173
but a surprising target for ants

262
00:28:15,713 --> 00:28:18,452
At first, the raiders do what's natural

263
00:28:18,453 --> 00:28:21,191
They swarm or over their intended victim

264
00:28:21,192 --> 00:28:26,156
but there's no way their tiny jaws are going
to pierce the crab's thick outer skeleton

265
00:28:27,047 --> 00:28:30,602
Instinctively, they probe for its weak points

266
00:28:30,603 --> 00:28:34,652
One group examines the legs and claws for a way in

267
00:28:34,653 --> 00:28:36,385
It has its dangers

268
00:28:37,944 --> 00:28:43,180
They search for the vulnerable joints
and hack their way into the leg

269
00:28:43,181 --> 00:28:47,654
using knife-like mandibles,
they slice away the soft tissue

270
00:28:47,655 --> 00:28:50,647
and as the joint is ripped and the tear widened

271
00:28:50,648 --> 00:28:57,282
the smaller workers are able to climb right
into the crab's legs to reach the muscles inside

272
00:29:15,825 --> 00:29:18,261
Another group checks out the mouth

273
00:29:24,043 --> 00:29:25,945
They seem to work together

274
00:29:25,946 --> 00:29:28,915
The larger soldiers prise open the mouth parts,

275
00:29:28,916 --> 00:29:34,287
so smaller workers can squeeze through
and attack the soft tissues behind

276
00:29:36,257 --> 00:29:38,680
The ants are dwarfed by the crab

277
00:29:38,681 --> 00:29:44,806
Yet with so may attacking at one time,
even a fully armoured crab doesn't stand a chance

278
00:29:46,276 --> 00:29:49,580
Ants eat from inside out

279
00:29:52,933 --> 00:29:58,445
By day 22, raiding parties have quartered
almost every part of their territory

280
00:29:58,446 --> 00:30:03,957
and down in the brood chambers,
there are now 4 million more mouths to feed

281
00:30:03,958 --> 00:30:05,677
The larvae are voracious

282
00:30:05,678 --> 00:30:09,562
and the raiders barely keep pece
with their demand for food

283
00:30:26,579 --> 00:30:29,349
The family is at a crisis point

284
00:30:39,197 --> 00:30:43,449
There's just one part of the forest left to explore

285
00:30:43,450 --> 00:30:47,093
And here they stumble upon an unexpected prize

286
00:30:47,094 --> 00:30:50,279
A mound made by forest termites

287
00:30:53,877 --> 00:30:56,089
Termites have a permanent home

288
00:30:56,090 --> 00:30:58,854
more a fortress than a nest

289
00:30:58,855 --> 00:31:01,617
Inside live 2 million residents

290
00:31:01,618 --> 00:31:04,782
now wing termites are leaving
the safety of the mound

291
00:31:07,253 --> 00:31:09,994
They're the future kings and queens

292
00:31:09,995 --> 00:31:12,735
and they do go on a nuptial flight

293
00:31:12,736 --> 00:31:15,720
Late in the day, they emerge from the nest

294
00:31:20,981 --> 00:31:23,897
Just a few fail to fly very far

295
00:31:26,193 --> 00:31:28,380
they'll be easy pickings

296
00:31:32,108 --> 00:31:35,308
The reign is very short, as with its life

297
00:31:38,588 --> 00:31:41,864
The ants swarm over any termite that fall short

298
00:31:50,202 --> 00:31:54,478
The work detail tries to control
and snip off the unmanageable wings

299
00:31:56,971 --> 00:32:00,846
For a tiny ant,
it's like wrestling with a gigantic sail

300
00:32:04,736 --> 00:32:08,184
Others anchor down their victim
by holding on to its legs

301
00:32:17,283 --> 00:32:21,656
As the hauliers keep pulling and pushing,
the buchters keep slicing

302
00:32:28,957 --> 00:32:32,597
The raiding party heads home
with an almost headless victim

303
00:32:32,598 --> 00:32:37,524
But their haul of a few ditch termites
is far less than the colony needs

304
00:32:43,855 --> 00:32:48,950
As the evening draws in and the temperature
drops the ants become lethargic

305
00:32:51,164 --> 00:32:53,454
They head back to their nest for the night

306
00:32:54,148 --> 00:33:00,609
but in returning home, they miss out
on the biggest feast there's been
in this part of the forest for a long time

307
00:33:08,289 --> 00:33:12,086
The main exodus of wing termites is this night

308
00:33:12,087 --> 00:33:14,986
tens of thousands emerge at the same time

309
00:33:18,573 --> 00:33:25,348
This would be such a glut of ant food,
it would satisfy the 20 million of them
for several days

310
00:33:25,349 --> 00:33:26,958
But the ants are not here

311
00:33:27,598 --> 00:33:31,661
The termites are on the wing,
the feast is flying away

312
00:33:31,662 --> 00:33:35,723
and the ant brood is demanding
increasingly more food

313
00:33:35,724 --> 00:33:39,975
If none is forthcoming,
the new generagtion could be put on hold

314
00:33:39,976 --> 00:33:42,957
The next 24 hours are critical

315
00:33:54,314 --> 00:33:58,408
A new day and for the ants a renewed challenge

316
00:34:05,373 --> 00:34:08,294
This has been their home for 23 days

317
00:34:08,295 --> 00:34:12,306
successful hunting means
their forest larder is almost bare

318
00:34:14,470 --> 00:34:16,977
The entire army is mobilizing

319
00:34:24,428 --> 00:34:28,497
The raiding parties head out
to the last place they'd found food

320
00:34:28,498 --> 00:34:31,898
where they had pinned down the few wing termites

321
00:34:50,929 --> 00:34:56,063
The bearing they've taken is leading them
straight towards the termite mound itself

322
00:35:02,269 --> 00:35:07,407
Ants and termites have been adversaries
for over 100 million years

323
00:35:07,408 --> 00:35:11,533
Now their armies of today
are on a collision course

324
00:35:11,534 --> 00:35:17,382
but without any physical contact,
the blind army is as unaware
of the termites ahead

325
00:35:17,383 --> 00:35:20,410
as the termites are of the approaching ants

326
00:35:22,066 --> 00:35:25,687
They begin to swarm over the outside
of the termite towers

327
00:35:25,688 --> 00:35:29,704
that for the moment, appear to them
to be just mounds of dried mud

328
00:35:46,472 --> 00:35:48,765
Guards are posted

329
00:35:48,766 --> 00:35:52,847
while others explore every crevice
for any sign of food

330
00:35:54,131 --> 00:35:57,604
First contact, the ants
know there's something here

331
00:35:57,605 --> 00:36:00,450
and change direction towards the alarm signal

332
00:36:00,451 --> 00:36:04,959
They mass around, the guards alert
for any unpleasant surprises

333
00:36:09,466 --> 00:36:11,462
This is unknown territory

334
00:36:11,463 --> 00:36:14,481
anything could be Iying in wait down there

335
00:36:17,594 --> 00:36:21,062
A worker gingerly explores the gapping hole

336
00:36:21,063 --> 00:36:25,102
and a scouting party
lays a scent trail for others to follow

337
00:36:28,723 --> 00:36:32,332
Activity increases, an assault is on

338
00:36:41,738 --> 00:36:44,967
Other ants have found
the termites' foraging tunnels

339
00:36:44,968 --> 00:36:46,979
and scramble inside

340
00:36:46,980 --> 00:36:51,759
The tunnels are narrow and not at all
like the open spaces driver ants prefer

341
00:36:56,822 --> 00:37:02,052
Termite soldiers with enormous jaws
and heads prepare to check the incursion

342
00:37:07,129 --> 00:37:11,577
A soldier termite confronts the invadors
with a threat display

343
00:37:11,578 --> 00:37:14,302
but it's not going to impress a driver ant

344
00:37:19,628 --> 00:37:22,740
The ants penetrate deep into the nest

345
00:37:22,741 --> 00:37:25,852
and the residents intensify their warning

346
00:37:31,582 --> 00:37:33,977
First blood is to the termites

347
00:37:38,079 --> 00:37:41,268
but the tunnel guards
are in danger of being overrun

348
00:37:48,581 --> 00:37:51,728
The ants break through
the first line of defence

349
00:38:08,709 --> 00:38:11,719
Another wave of ants advances unchallenged

350
00:38:16,587 --> 00:38:18,639
but the attack is not going to plan

351
00:38:21,267 --> 00:38:25,774
In the tunnels, the ants become
embroiled in one to one duels

352
00:39:14,706 --> 00:39:17,886
The jaw to jaw combat is at a stalemate

353
00:39:17,887 --> 00:39:21,463
ants and termites seem locked
in a lethal embrace

354
00:39:29,264 --> 00:39:31,526
The adversaries are well-matched

355
00:39:41,323 --> 00:39:43,278
The ants are pulling out

356
00:39:48,094 --> 00:39:50,691
Their army will have to look elsewhere

357
00:39:55,776 --> 00:39:58,043
But not all are going home

358
00:40:08,234 --> 00:40:11,167
Those who can move out do so

359
00:40:14,143 --> 00:40:16,875
the termite mound has defeated them

360
00:40:16,876 --> 00:40:20,240
They must find food in
another part of the forest

361
00:40:35,016 --> 00:40:38,446
For the ant army, a big change is inevitable

362
00:40:42,685 --> 00:40:45,283
The queen makes ready for a journey

363
00:40:50,736 --> 00:40:56,069
The lower ranks gather up all the larvae in
the nursery and move them to the nest entrance

364
00:41:04,929 --> 00:41:10,040
They've depleted the food supply in
the vicinity of their nest and must leave

365
00:41:11,213 --> 00:41:13,192
They've outstayed their welcome

366
00:41:25,031 --> 00:41:31,079
Swarm raiding parties have located a
concentration of food 200 yards further on

367
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:35,382
so the entire colony must relocate
in order to exploit it

368
00:41:37,443 --> 00:41:39,245
They've wreaked havoc here

369
00:41:39,246 --> 00:41:43,214
so they're moving on to terrorise
another part of the forest

370
00:41:45,478 --> 00:41:49,370
Yet the ants are important
to the forest's well-being

371
00:41:50,092 --> 00:41:56,841
The wholesale culling of bugs and slugs
ensures that no one species dominates

372
00:41:56,842 --> 00:42:01,639
Driver ants help maintain the huge
range of plants and animals

373
00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:06,980
Despite all the killing, driver ants
are an essential part of forest life

374
00:42:06,981 --> 00:42:10,810
In many ways, the good guys after all

375
00:42:11,980 --> 00:42:30,810
Subtitles by Andrew and Hattie
www.mvgroup.org