Back to Show
Deep Look
Honeypot Ants Turn Their Biggest Sisters Into Jugs of Nectar
Season 9
Episode 5
Deep in their underground nests, honeypot ants stuff members of their own colony until they look like golden water balloons. Drop by drop, worker ants deliver nectar and other liquid food into their largest sisters’ mouths. When food is scarce in the desert, the colony will feed from these living storage tanks, known as repletes.
Sign up now for inspiring and thought-provoking media delivered straight to your inbox.
Support Provided By

4:38
Skeleton shrimp anatomy can be confusing, with their funky assortment of body parts.

4:42
Tadpole shrimp are a special type of time-traveling crustacean called triops.

3:30
The assassin bug commits murder by stabbing. But does this perpetrator have an accomplice?

4:26
Most damselflies prefer sun, but the quirky San Francisco forktail damselfly digs the fog.

4:51
Horseshoe crabs may look scary, but really they’re lovers, not fighters.

4:29
Digger bees build a different kind of sandcastle at the beach – it's part of their nest.

4:42
Can axolotls salamanders thrive once again in their ancestral waters in Mexico City?

4:09
Hermit crabs are more than happy to let snails build them a perfect home.

5:03
The drama is real for this sultry flower, a gorgeous butterfly and an unlucky fungus gnat.

3:56
Scorpions are notorious predators, but they also have delicate sensory organs.

4:52
The hydra, named after a mythical multiheaded monster, may be the secret to eternal youth.

4:25
This fly’s larvae tunnel inside greens like arugula and kale, leaving squiggly marks.