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  • Which of these five tasty flavours will fire ants choose?

  • Well, today we're going to find out in the ultimate ant taste test challenge.

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  • Enjoy!

  • In all my years of ant keeping, I've never tried to find out if my pet ants prefer certain

  • tastes over others.

  • I just simply threw in their food and they ate it.

  • But wouldn't a knowledge of what flavours ants prefer be great to know?

  • Other than giving my pet ants their favourite tasting food every day, knowing what flavours

  • they like or dislike, may come in handy when for instance, having a picnic outside at a

  • park where fire ants might happen to be living.

  • So that's why this week, I decided to conduct an experiment using my fire ant colony, the

  • Phoenix Empire, as subjects for an ultimate taste test, using some common flavours.

  • I'll tell you now, I was pretty surprised at the results, and you might be, too, so

  • keep on watching until the end!

  • Now let's go over the taste test experiment.

  • This taste test was done using these sweet jelly cups for three reasons: First, all the

  • jelly cups had the same consistency, so the ants couldn't choose based on the texture

  • of the food, seeing as ants have a general preference for soft moist food over anything

  • else.

  • Second, all the jelly cups were the same amounts, so I could more easily see how much of the

  • food was eaten.

  • And third, all the flavours were under the sweet category, because if I were to offer

  • different categories of flavours, like salty, bitter, sour, etc, I'm pretty sure sweet

  • and whatever a cockroach tastes like would end up winning!

  • Haha!

  • Here are the five flavours we would be taste testing today on our fire ants:

  • First, white sugar.

  • Ahhh the typical mother of sweetness.

  • My fire ants used to drinking white sugar dissolved in water in their sugar test tubes,

  • which by the way, I let dry out a couple days ago for this experiment.

  • If white sugar flavour ends up winning, I'm sure it's because they're already used

  • to this flavour.

  • Second, brown sugar.

  • Do you think the ants would choose the healthier sugar flavour?

  • Does the brown sugar being healthier rule even apply to ants?

  • I'm not sure.

  • The Phoenix Empire has had brown sugar water in the past, so this taste is also not new

  • to them.

  • Third, honey!

  • A very common choice of sugar source for ant keepers.

  • I have found that some species of ants don't particularly like honey only because they

  • can't digest it well, but honey flavoured jelly might be more palatable.

  • Let's see.

  • Fourth, banana.

  • What fruit-loving animal doesn't like banana, a high sugar fruit with a distinct taste?

  • Random fact: bananas are berries.

  • Which brings us to our last flavour, strawberry.

  • A lower sugar fruit, that random fact, again, is actually not a berry.

  • Don't ask me!

  • I'm just as upset that someone clearly lied to us as kids!

  • So AC Family, behold.

  • The Phoenix Empire's new sugar chamber.

  • This venue would be a suitable place to have the experiment as we can better control the

  • environment.

  • It's just a simple take-out container, with the lid cut up so we could see inside, lined

  • with baby powder along the bottom so the fire ants can't escape.

  • Not sure if this will be a permanent installment to their setup, but it will do for this experiment!

  • Inside we have our five flavours, each equidistant from the entrance point, so that the fire

  • ants don't simply choose whichever cup is closest.

  • I'll be connecting it to this port here in their ac Test Tube portal where their empty

  • sugar test tube is currently connected, because the ants already know this place as the source

  • of their sweet food, which will make this experiment easier.

  • So how will we know which flavour the ants choose?

  • Well, we will give the ants 12 hrs to sample all flavours and whichever flavour has the

  • most jelly eaten will be the winner.

  • If we give the ants more time, I'm afraid they'll just eat everything and we won't

  • be able to tell which they liked the most.

  • Sounds like a plan, guys?

  • What's your hypothesis?

  • Which flavour do you think the ants will like the most?

  • Let us know in the comments section and at the end go back to your comment and see if

  • you were right!

  • No cheating!

  • Guys, let the taste test begin!

  • Connecting the tube, and done.

  • AC Family, let's watch.

  • Instantly, the ants travel through the tube and enter the sugar chamber.

  • At first, they took the time to explore the new uncharted territories, but soon an ant

  • discovered the banana and even had a taste of the white sugar.

  • Meanwhile, some other ants discovered the brown sugar, and strawberry.

  • Finally, the honey too was discovered.

  • The ants began filling the area with pheromones so that the oblivious ants below could come

  • up and check out the sweet goods just above them.

  • I slipped a white paper under the container so we could better watch the ants gather to

  • feed from the jelly cups and observe their trails.

  • Check 'em out!

  • What's great about this method of taste testing is that ants actually work on a democratic

  • system, where the collective ant mind is driven by a pheromonal voting.

  • The ants use chemicals to recruit and/or convince surrounding ants to do something or come somewhere,

  • and in this case, it's to come try the jelly!

  • Over time, we should see the ants' collective preference manifest as the ants crowdsource

  • which one tastes the best to them!

  • Sorry, it seems the brown sugar is hard to see, but don't worry.

  • You'll see the results shortly.

  • Also while shooting, I noticed that some of the fire ants were squeezing through tiny

  • spaces between the lid and the container so I had to place baby powder on the wall of

  • the enclosure to solve that.

  • Well so far, it seems banana is not a favourite, and neither is honey.

  • Interesting.

  • The ants seem to be preferring the white sugar, strawberry, and brown sugar, and in second

  • place the honey, and banana the least favourite.

  • By now the whole Phoenix Empire had been informed of the new lands of sweet goodies and were

  • pouring in in droves!

  • Wouldn't you if you were an ant that had heard about the discovery a new sugarland?

  • Moments later, I noticed that the ants were starting to show a greater preference for

  • white sugar.

  • I mean, it's what they're used to right?

  • I wonder if they will continue eating this or move collectively from flavour to flavour.

  • There were times when I felt like the ants started to show a greater liking for the strawberry,

  • but the preference wasn't so obvious yet.

  • It was definitely a toss up between the white sugar and strawberry.

  • And then, the strangest thing happened.

  • Switching the camera position so you guys can see.

  • The ants began to show a preference for the brown sugar!

  • Am I just seeing things or do you guys see slightly more ants at the brown sugar?

  • Over the next while, the ants were jumping between white sugar, strawberry, and brown

  • sugar, and not feeling the honey nor banana so much.

  • I decided to come check up on the ants and jelly cups in the morning, to see if there

  • would be more clear evidence of a preference.

  • The next morning, I saw this!

  • So, looking at each one, I do see that the flavour that currently has the most ants eating

  • right now is strawberry, but in terms of volume of jelly that was eaten, it was clearly brown

  • sugar.

  • Before going to bed, I did see that most of the ants were chowing down on the brown sugar

  • more than the others, so what I'm guessing is the ants had their fill of the brown sugar,

  • and then sorta got tired of the taste, and moved on to their second favourite: strawberry.

  • Despite being popular first, white sugar appeared to be in third place, fourth honey, and last

  • place banana.

  • Banana's surface was still smooth which meant it was hardly touched!

  • And so, AC Family, it seems brown sugar is our winner and the top most favoured flavour

  • of the five!

  • Well, were the results what you thought?

  • Guess I'm not going to be bringing brown sugar-coated strawberries to my next picnic,

  • but instead will take bananas dipped in honey!

  • Haha!

  • To be absolutely sure, though, this experiment would need to be run several times, perhaps

  • arranging the jelly cups in different positions, to see if the results come out the same each

  • time.

  • I also figured some margins of error could have been the colour of the jelly.

  • Perhaps the ants could have had a preference for or an aversion to certain colours.

  • Maybe the ants don't like the colour yellow, and well the brown sugar seems to be the same

  • colour as the roaches they love.

  • Next time I should try to create jelly cups of different flavours but all the same colour.

  • I also realized placement of my lighting could have possibly affected the results, too.

  • What I also found interesting was that my ants got sorta fed up with one flavour and

  • moved on to another, so perhaps every time I try to duplicate this experiment they may

  • choose differently.

  • Now I know that variety will keep them happier than just feeding them the same old thing

  • every day!

  • Whatever the case, this was such a fun experiment to try out with you guys!

  • What other cool and safe experiments should we try on our Phoenix Empire?

  • I sometimes like doing these kinds of videos, too for science!

  • So it's clear that ants really love their sugars, which worker ants absolutely need

  • to power all their daily energy-demanding activities.

  • Whether they get it from natural sugar sources, fruits, or sweet foods left behind by humans,

  • ants always did and forever will have the ultimate sweet tooth.

  • Thank you for watching and supporting the ants!

  • It's ant love forever!

  • AC Family, did you enjoy today's episode?

  • Were the results what you expected?

  • I'm now craving something sweet!

  • So much more is ahead for the Phoenix Empire and other creatures of the ant room, so if

  • you haven't yet, do SMASH that SUBSCRIBE button and BELL ICON now, and hit ALL so you

  • get notified at every upload.

  • Also don't forget to hit the LIKE button every single time including now.

  • It would really mean a lot to me, guys.

  • Thank you!

  • AC Inner Colony, I have left a hidden cookie for you here, if you would like to watch extended

  • play footage of the Phoenix Empire feasting on their sweet jelly!

  • And guys, did you know that it's anting season in the Northern Hemisphere, and you

  • don't even need to leave your home to start an ant colony?!

  • You can catch pregnant queen ants from the safety of your own backyard, balcony, or open

  • window starting this month!

  • Be sure to visit AntsCanada.com for all your ant keeping and collecting gear shipped to

  • you in a special package from our ant-loving facility in the USA, so you can get the most

  • out of your ant keeping experience.

  • We ship worldwide and also offer full email support if you need our help!

  • We also have a helpful forum and ant colony trading marketplace on the site.

  • Visit AntsCanada.com today.

  • And now it's time for the AC Question of the Week.

  • Last week, we asked:

  • Why was the temple called Shelfordella?

  • Congratulations to Mandy De La Rosa who answered:

  • It was called Shelfordella because their scientific name is Shelfordella lateralis.

  • Congratulations Mandy, you just won a free Ultimate Ant Keeping handbook from our shop!

  • In this week's AC Question of the Week we ask:

  • Which of the flavours would you choose if you were an ant?

  • Leave your answer in the comments section and you could also win a free ebook handbook

  • from our shop!

  • Hope you could subscribe to the channel as we upload every Saturday at 8AM EST.

  • Please remember to LIKE, COMMENT, SHARE, and SUBSCRIBE if you enjoyed this video, to help

  • us keep making more.

  • It's ant love forever!

Which of these five tasty flavours will fire ants choose?

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B1 中級 美國腔

在這五種味道中,火蟻最喜歡哪一種?| 火蟻口味測試 (Which of these FIVE FLAVOURS will FIRE ANTS love most? | Fire Ant Taste Test)

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    鄭葦恩 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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