Earth’s “Alien” Societies: Superorganisms | Lindsay Nikole
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Imagine a world where everyone’s role is decided before birth and personal identity takes a backseat to the good of the group. In this exploration of eusocial creatures, we’ll look at how ants, bees, termites, and even naked mole rats form complex societies where the colony operates as a single unit. These animals exhibit behaviors that go beyond survival, cooperating, building, and even “voting” to make collective decisions. It’s a deep dive into teamwork like you’ve never seen before!
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ABOUT LINDSAY NIKOLE
Join zoologist Lindsay Nikole for vivid stories about evolution, animal behavior, and the wonderfully weird life around (and before) us. Each video dives into creatures you’ve never met and facts you’ll never forget, blending science with humor, visuals, and memorable explanations. From viral mystery IDs and prehistoric deep dives to myth-busting and conservation context, this channel makes complex biology easy and exciting to understand.
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Chapters:
00:00 Today’s Episode is Earth’s Aliens!
01:11 Ants
18:56 Wasps, The Origin of Bees and Ants
19:46 Bees
22:19 Wood Roaches
25:33 Aphid and Thrips
29:41 Synalpheus
30:55 Naked Mole Rats
Earth’s “Alien” Societies: Superorganisms | Lindsay Nikolehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrc2iv2-G1FZ3VscM3zu2jg

@amandaspencer7217
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
was NOT expecting a stitch with Chloe
@brienneashley6352
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Maybe she's thinking of harems?
@fredeerickbays
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
I like ur 1,000,005 random # Mine is 6714 It is the # I gave my Ma when I was ten when she ask me how many times i had to be told something. Brought the Poor Woman up shot
Any one ask how many for some dumb thing ya 6714
@Rockthrowingbudhist
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Controlling ants in your home is actually quite easy and does not require anything more toxic than ammonia cleaner which will kill any individuals and disrupt their access trails. Make it expensive for them. Make sure their loss of biomass exceeds any food they are able to collect and the hive will figure it out and go foraging elsewhere. This has been working for me for decades.
@MikeGirela1407
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Loved the silk song reference
@scottblackburn7192
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
6:35 Where can I claim my 2.5 million ants by the way ?
@TJF588
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
What's that one "SCP" that's a collective of butterflies that, while no individual butterfly experiences consciousness, the complexity of their interactions is so advanced as to have learned to communicate with human handlers, and by which damage to the collective results in diminished conversational capabilities while new members are being replenished.
@hrmnrmpfh
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Siphonophores should be next!!
@TJF588
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Bringing up the incredulity of altruism, i get to thinking again about the "why would any human be gay? that evolutionarily doesn't make sense!!" naysaying, as if family groups (or broader!) wouldn't benefit from all members' cooperative dispositions, far more than any supposed "disadvantage" from a stray member who inherently wouldn't be queuing their own genes up, especially when it's humans who take decades to secure their self-sufficiency, and said self-sufficiency would most likely cycle back into the family+ group dynamics anyway. For us, antisociality has gotta be the biggest detractor of success, far more than natural diversity.
@TJF588
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
That i'd just started taking bites into some glazed toaster strudels when you said to grab something to eat…
@YoRouable
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Whales have many documented cases of exhibiting strong cross-species altruism, proving that altruism in non-human animals is not always correlated to their "relatedness".
@chelu4u
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
I would love to meet you so I could flirt with you even though my friends said you would destroy me lol not kidding thanks for sharing much appreciated 👍❤
@Chalaka_831
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Pluribus
@Lochnesstoilet
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
This is the first time I've heard dog's life mentioned since playing it in middle school. Also never finished it 😅
@Whitednablack
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Ants ants aunts aunts
@Lulada.a
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
You should call your game “bane of the arthropods” like the Minecraft enchantment
@Jordan-pp5bo
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
I am a simple autistic person; I see ants and bees, I click.
@DarthAnimal
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
"they mate with the queen and then die, they have no other purpose" me too ants, me too
@notsoninjaninja1819
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
33:40 what's the song playing here?
@EmilyJelassi
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Love all of the green plants that you've added😊😊❤❤
Amts aren't something that I think of ona regular basis, unless we're being invaded, usually in the spring… 😂
@Raptorex074
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
1:48 I LITERALLY JUST WATCHED THIS MOVIE
@BusterFuzzKnugginton
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
great video but i had to rewatch the first 5 mins bc i was arguin in my head about how you cant tell me what to do
@Chainsaw-Madridsta
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Hunter x hunter did eternal damage on the aphid tangent
@malicemacey
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Just describing 'im a celebrity'
@martinbertoldo761
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
18:50 there are species that do things that someone can say is voting
@theflyingdutchguy9870
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Naked molrats are so weird. They are not even molrats, and they are fckng cold-blooded mammals.
@t-townchampreviews1442
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Antarctica is the only continent with no ants. More like Antiantartica…
@adrianvaughn1983
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
So how come these animal colonies don’t fall apart due to one gigantic genetic bottleneck?
@Fr0stBytes725
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
5:33 Arthropod Inferno sounds like a Metalcore band name
@BaronvonTurkeyfish
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
I'm a bit late to this video I know but you should look into a species of ant called the Bull Ant as they have a somewhat unique society compared with other ants. the workers can even mate with males to become a new queen if the old one dies for example
@tidalwave5422
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
The termite picture that showed how large queens get was wild😭
@aaronrattley8580
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
CHLOE LONGNAME MENTION RAHHHHH PEAK KNOWS PEAK!!!!
@FallenEvaneskyro07
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Ever read/watch Ender Games?
@ShikamaruXT
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Nevermind me, I'm just looking for a certain comment. The "yo, lets date, and you can tell me all about ants" one
The first time i read about mole rats, was in Fallout 2 😂
@slinky9322
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
This is a great video ❤❤
@MrConna6
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Im trying to write a book about small people, ant pheromone warfare included
@Silly_Fellow552
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
This is like a small part of the video but while caring about the environment, PLEASE dont use Ai images or overview. Really unfortunate that it is hard to tell sometimes if something is or not. 😟 those data centers just do so much to the earth and not in a positive way ..
@thedreamwalkerally
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
I am the antbear….
@johntrohn1
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
all that masculine performance is entirely destroyed by being barely taller than the light switch
@lupusexperience
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
if you call the army and police "culture", than and only then you're correct
@gankb8
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Like and sub for Dogs Life callback.
@Liquid_artist
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
"ANTS! ANTS ANTS ANTS!"
One of my favorite lindsay nikole quotes
"Do bees vote?"
Also awesome
@CatwithaKnife12
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
Since Lindsay didn't give an example (cause she didn't want to), and I'm a bit slow.. What would be a good example of the equation of altruism at work? 🤔
@KarlHodgkinson-h2k
January 8, 2026 at 7:41 am
You could do a sketch on Waggle dance