by late summer
the corral tanks contain the only
standing water for kilometers around
[Music]
the canyon’s more mobile insects are
drawn to this one last oasis
for those able to travel
this water is a lifesaver
[Music]
so
[Music]
bees and wasps
can carry the water back to their
distant nests
but this tiny pool of water lies just
beyond the boundary of the coral
colony’s territory
with no end in sight
such desperate times
call for desperate measures
as the search widens
a small group of corral workers
head towards the trough
this is unfamiliar ground for them
and they are heading toward disaster
near the trough
they stumble across other honey ants
and then a nest entrance
it’s only 40 meters from the corral
colony
but that’s been enough to keep these two
nests in mutual ignorance for all these
years
these new honey ants are unlike any the
corral workers have encountered before
they are big and aggressive
instead of backing down they meet the
challenge head-on
and the encounter begins to escalate
for the first time in its history
the corral colony
may have met its match
sensing the worst the corral workers
begin to fall back towards their own
nest
the trough workers go on the offensive
the retreat quickly turns into a route
stragglers are picked off
the fight is carried right to the
entrance of the corral colony
even here on their own doorstep they
can’t hold their ground
the attacking trough workers drive on
into the nest
as news of the attack reaches the corral
queen
she withdraws to the deepest chambers
her entourage of nurses in tow
carrying the valuable brood
the battle spreads down into the tunnels
slowly
inexorably
it spreads down through the shafts
towards the deeper part of the nest
[Music]
the repletes are slaughtered
or dragged away to be eaten later
some dead workers are carried off for
processing
the invaders take everything from eggs
to newborns
[Music]
many are eaten where they fall
[Music]
they empty chamber
after chamber
[Music]
finally
the invaders overcome the last
resistance
and breakthrough into the royal bunker
the corral queen and her broods are
trapped
and completely helpless
held by each leg
the queen is on the rack
first stretched
then dismembered
it is a gruesome and ignominious end
for this once great ruler
[Music]
in just a few hours the corral colony
has been annihilated
the nest
emptied
too late for the corral colony
the drought finally breaks
[Music]
a great storm heralded the start of the
corral queen’s story
and now eight years later another marks
its brutal end
but somewhere out in the desert
the queen’s royal daughters are fighting
their own battles
continuing her dynasty
the queen may be dead
but her empire
lives on
[Music]
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