I've never seen a FLEA move like this!

[@mmseng2]

What amazes (and frustrates) me most about fleas, is that they are almost impossible to crush. It's like they took refuge in a lower dimension.

[@mariannaluciliasericata4195]

It is an adaptation to their parasitic lifestyle. They have flattened their bodies laterally to make it harder for their vertebrate host to squish them while scratching. I find that fact amazing. Other parasites have opted for flattening dorso-ventrally.

[@mmseng2]

@@mariannaluciliasericata4195 Yeah, the adaptation itself is amazing, but I actually find the sheer physics of it even more incredible. Trying to kill a flea by squishing it between two fingers is like trying to destroy a piece of paper by squishing it between two water balloons.

[@reviewchan9806]

I'm glad not all bugs have this adaptation. It's honestly them most broken trait imaginable for a parasite

[@thomasmuller1850]

You need to squash it with your nails to skin. It will break them, if you use enough pressure.

[@Triggernlfrl]

I rub them till they look like a skidmark...

[@R1NR4N]

I admire your self-control to not say "flea-search" at the end of the video.

[@JayBirdJay]

I was just about to say the same thing

[@AntLab]

all the good ideas always come after I push publish!

[@gus473]

@@AntLab 😅 Welcome to the club! 😎✌️

[@APerchOfPillows]

I wholeheartedly believe you did the right thing not picking the low hanging fruit and thank you for not.

[@wyliem]

Too intelligent to say that

[@spiderplant]

As a former entomologist, I'm embarrassed to say i never know fleas were holometabolous

[@silverfox9004]

you're not alone, I'm an entomologist in college and was suprised to see that they have larvae instead of nymphs

[@grimportent8792]

It does feel kind of weird that they undergo metamorphosis. Something about them just leads to the assumption they wouldn’t start as larvae.

[@mrpickles-hb6zx]

I'm ashamed of you, you didn't even think about it?

[@spiderplant]

@@grimportent8792 they really have that vibe

[@pengen_gantinama]

They can easily get confused with louse or bedbugs, which have nymph instead of larva stage.

[@hadleygrass]

Yet another amazing video I will not be sharing with my spouse...

[@AdornThyHeadset]

But definitely one I will share with my louse!

[@the_jameson2200]

And my house!

[@RagtimeAnnie-b7m]

Perhaps with my mouse

[@vomm]

man i love your videos so much .. straight to the point, no blabla, no hooks, just facts and beautiful images

[@ingriddurden3929]

makes you forget what you are looking at ! a nasty parasite that is a true nuisance ! but still amazing to see.

[@MudaGameStudio]

A jar of fleas is the prank peanut brittle jar of the insect world

[@eewilson9835]

jar of flies is an alice in chains album

[@blackvx]

Amazing captures. Thanks for sharing your findings!

[@MyWildBackyard]

You gotta wonder what the world is like for a flea mid-jump. Total random and hope to land somewhere safe, or intentional and coordinated? Either way, wild stuff.

[@mmseng2]

Definitely slow motion with The Blue Danube as a soundtrack.

[@KeaveMind]

Did u ever see frogs jump? They kinda just jump but they dont land. Often they just do a belly flop or tumble on the ground until they're upright again

[@sandasturner9529]

It is coordinated. If you've tried to catch a flea jump in person, you'll see they turn towards the direction they want to travel. It's somewhat coordinated

[@sundigest1121]

well they detect light, vibration and CO2 in the air so they probably jump towards that

[@Ojja78]

I don't know why KZbin has been so insistent that I watch this video, but I'm glad it was.

[@celihenry3227]

I never knew adult fleas jumps were so spinny and wonky, always assumed it was like a jumping spider or grasshopper, though without a wide base or wings i can see why they would have such an uncontrolled jump, great work!

[@dj-kq4fz]

So cool to see your videos popping up on other channels! Thanks for another interesting insect.

[@VeneraBerens]

😮THATS CRAZY THAT THEY CAN DO WHAT THEY DO GREAT VIDEO NOT YELLING ALMOST COMPLETELY BLIND CAPS HELP STAY SAFE EVERYONE

[@gus473]

Appreciate the explanation! Have you tried any of Google's vision accessibility features, like on their Pixel phone? Truly helpful! 😎✌️

[@VeneraBerens]

@@gus473 THX BUT MOST OF MY VISION ISSUES ARE CATERACS AND VISION DISTORTION FROM A SEVERE CONCUSSION A FEW YEARS AGO THX ANYWAY FOR LOOKING OUT FOR ME BEAUTIFUL FRIEND MANY BLESSINGS OF PEACE AND LOVE ON YOUR HOUSEHOLD ALWAYS BEAUTIFUL FRIEND

[@aaronarellano7395]

APPRETIATE THE EXPLANATION! HAVE YOU TRIED ANY OF GOOGLE'S VISION ACCESSIBILITY FEATURES, LIKE ON THEIR PIXEL PHONE? TRULY HELPFUL!

[@gus473]

Amazing images (especially from the SEM) and video! Always something interesting in the Ant Lab! 😎✌️

[@francorodriguez3499]

thank you so much for your work. i have left the researching field for half a year now and i miss it so much, thank you for sharing this feeling.

[@crossoverqueen1775]

I love these videos because not only do I learn things, I get to see cute lil buggos jumping/flying/just moving around!

[@WildlyStapled]

@5:49 "I remember my college days, wild times! What'd you get up in college?" "Measure flea heads for 6 hours a day..."

[@maggienelson4437]

"Twenty minutes on the floor looking for fleas" yikes. Needle in the haystack got nothing on that! People used to find fleas by walking into the room. And what did you do with them when you were finished filming? I really HOPE you didn't humanely release them into the wild!

[@slwrabbits]

I once dropped an actual needle into a box of hay.

[@AlisNinsky]

This is so interesting! I’m not a fan of fleas but seeing them up close really helps me to appreciate their complexity.

[@ForestSchweitzer022097]

Thank you so much for doing your work and sharing it

[@EyeSeeThruYou]

You folks made flea larvae not just interesting, but captivating!! 👍

[@JA_Balbuena]

Congrats on another amazing video on insect motion. As a zoologist and parasitologist, I found it utterly fascinating!

[@nunyabznz]

Your videos never cease to amaze me. I just with they came out more often!

[@AntLab]

If they came out more often, they wouldn't have so many interesting (and new) things in them!

[@GothGuy885]

its Flea-ing the scene

[@ChampionofNamira]

You can just... buy fleas?

[@jamesemerson2828]

😂😂😂

[@RandomsFandom]

Cue diabolic plan. You can also buy a few different types of manure to have sent anonymously through the mail through a service

[@SJHFoto]

Very nice. I've never thought of how flea larvae move

[@SaronJoy]

Thank you AntLab! I just learned sooo much about the amazing tumbling flea.❤

[@abigailbostic2198]

Love these videos! It's so cool to see insects in ways I've never seen before

[@TheWildReportOfficial]

I didn't expect to ever watch a flea unboxing video, but here we are. Also why are larval fleas actually somewhat adorable?

[@Soundofwindonsand]

Watching the larvae crawling sure explains why diatomaceous earth works so well to combat fleas

[@nima9340]

So here I find myself in the middle of the night watching a video on how flea larva moves; and I find it utterly fascinating! It's impressive how you can make something like this interesting.

[@hodor3024]

This is the nerdiest channel I'm subscribed to.

[@AntLab]

yr welcome

[@widowkeeper4739]

That's really very fascinating! It's amazing how an animal known for its legs and leg power doesn't even have any at the start of it's life. Nobody wants to deal with a flea infestation, but they are a really interesting rabbit hole of biology to study. Great job on getting this video!

[@nathancomixproductions466]

You haven't posted anything in 3 months, and now you've come back. I missed you.

[@eewilson9835]

neat history review on a buggy subject

[@amsf1]

Anything that sucks blood makes my skin crawl. Fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, ex wives...

[@natezuniga-qd7pe]

4:57 its important to mention that larval fleas have a permanent derpy face.

[@mmz12]

I always imagined them to be menacing and capable of strategic jumps. This looks more like they should be accompanied by a looney toons spring sound as they blast off, seemingly in just whatever direction.

[@alanabeaumont2650]

The information that you can order hundreds of fleas makes for some cathartic reminder I can always take revenge. Thanks for making informational videos in general.

[@mariannaluciliasericata4195]

Thanks for sharing this incredible information for free. You bring never before seen knowlegde to the world. By the way, how is it that you were financed to do research on such a niche topic? I find it amazing but seems not that important for most people overall I suppose, if you don’t mind the question.

[@AntLab]

this is was a small, unfunded, study. behavioral research like this and most of my other studies don't cost that much once we have the equipment or access to it somewhere else.

[@mariannaluciliasericata4195]

@@AntLab Oh that's great to know. I would love to do this kind of research on topics about little studied groups of insects. I'm impressed by the knowledge you provide with the incredible camera shots of the insects' close up, and I would like to do something similar at some point. Your videos inspire me, so keep up this great work on your channel. :)

[@tylociraptor8131]

ihatefleasihatefleasihatefleasihatefleas im so itchy WHY DO I KEEP WATCHING WHY IS IT SO FASCINATING I HATE FLEAS SO MUCH

[@iamjustkiwi]

I think its human nature to want to learn more about the things that scare or disgust us; it's a good way to confront difficult stuff.

[@katiekane5247]

So you can more effectively keep them from infesting your space!

[@Ombrenoirs]

Watching fleas yeet themselves in slo-mo is something I didn't know I needed.

[@retaliationeffort2864]

I was vacuuming my home and found the larvae in my dust cup of the vacuum. I have never seen the larval state of fleas until tonight. I've been having a problem with fleas in my apartment so I'm vacuuming, using diatomaceous earth, using knockout spray, capstar and Frontline plus on the dog and cat. They are so hard to get rid of!

[@lisascher7302]

Excellent video; you are very good at explaining so the general population understands. Thanks!

[@itsBINGO357]

The fact that you can buy fleas makes me think that some people out there are playing very mean pranks

[@dark_luls]

The way that first flea lifts off into the stratosphere tho

[@karonmalingo5798]

Thank you! I always look forward to your postings.

[@sjhall2009]

Now i feel like stuff is crawling on me.

[@iksarguards]

"I have to go, my planet needs me"- The Flea

[@aidan8600]

just amazing, thanks so much for your effort and straightforward videos!

[@wilsonweiseng6485]

in slow mo, they look like they just rise and float away while spinning like a gmod model

[@Nylak-Otter]

I'm already intimately familiar with a lot of this (I work in animal welfare and one of my best friends teaches and researches parasitology and entomology in terms of veterinary medicine), but the images and videos are great material. Thanks for sharing prior to publication!

[@rookhoatzin]

First time seeing your channel. So very interesting, in a fun way. Amazing how many critters must eat either their own poop or the poop of adults of same species in order to be healthy. Thanks for sharing.

[@Fry09294]

As a linguist I know absolutely nothing about fleas or biology in general, but nevertheless I'm always happy to see the boundaries of scientific knowledge expanded!

[@Rorther]

Wait, this channel is getting so many views now! So well deserved!

[@SamSonicVideos]

I think it's important, maybe even vital to study fleas and other pest insects so we can better understand them and control them. Great work!

[@blazednlovinit]

2:12 "Flea feces with eggs" Thank you, just what I always wanted :D

[@tedgunderson67]

Those baby pictures warranted a heads up.

[@LcySlay]

0:00 the jump 💀

[@bari2883]

Is it a worry that I knew all of this information other than the maxillary palps are used to walk? The benefits of being a stray cat rehome and rehab for many years. Would love to see you do the rat flea too. Now they’re tiny and jump Very well too.

[@greenbimoon]

As always, fantastically amazing. Great science.

[@indigenoussober407]

As much as I hate Fleas, their mobility is a reminder how Power to Weight Ratio is King.

[@axldlima1938]

dudee we missed youu

[@ebob4177]

The most surprising thing about discovering larval cat flea is that it means cats have a larval stage and I have never seen one!

[@Hyperion-5744]

Good video Ant Lab.

[@RomulusTheWild6693]

Would love a rove beetle videos, they are awesome and even the larger species like devil's coach horse , and hairy rove beetles fly surprisingly well and unlike ground beetles, rove beetle have surprisingly small elightra and relatively long wings so much so that they have to use their abdomen to fold their wings

[@marciabarreto780]

Amazing video. They should be teaching at the Olympics!

[@smokey_410]

Fleas are hi-tech, thats a young flea in a Mark 3 Iron flea suit

[@astick5249]

so weird finding out what hasn't been looked at regarding insect movement. I mean you even said that fleas are (relatively) well studied insects and yet there was barely anything on the movement of larva

[@LEGrease]

Great fleasearch

[@orsonzedd]

In the business we call it fleaces

[@katiekane5247]

Nice!

[@Landrew0]

You are doing heroic work Sir, so I hereby pin this metaphoric medal to your chest.

[@njlkerins]

Superb video, thank you. That slow-mo footage must have taken *ages* to record. Zack Snyder would be proud! 😂

[@deepelements]

Imagine if all insects were the size of a school bus, or even lets say a small car. O.o

[@dcharris555]

Are the movement strategies of other Mecoptera larvar similarly obscure? I wonder if there are similarities, at least with (for example) the Nannochoristids...

[@reviewchan9806]

Show them side by side with adults to show how big they are

[@larryhuffine2814]

Damn! love the video but Jake was my favorite part

[@ThunderPanzer]

Really interesting! the movement reminds me of some worm creature we have at my house (in Argentina)... I haven't been able to identify it, but its body remains stiff and it almost builds its own "shell" out of what seems to be dust particles, and it moves by poking its centipede-like head out and pulling itself up the wall. I found some similar worms online that use leaves instead of house dust. If you have any clues, I'd love to know

[@Frog_Dogger]

I'm pretty sure that is a bagworm.

[@ThunderPanzer]

@@Frog_Dogger Yeah that's basically what I found online... but I couldn't find one that matches exactly yet

[@datgio4951]

No one: Sponge Bob Close Ups: 4:54

[@Bill-lt5qf]

i wanna know what larvae to adult flea looks like now

[@luluveloy4775]

Hey thanks for your awesome videos, will you do others about ants ?

[@AntLab]

maybe. there are still ant colonies in the lab (trap-jaw ants), but I don't have any active research projects on them at the moment. Unrelated, I have been wanting to make a video about ants in amber in museums for a while. I hope I have the chance to make that one.

[@ericjohnson8001]

Man Check out the furniture where your dog sleeps if you don't keep it clean and treated-- looks like a zillion tiny maggots in the seams and folds of the furniture. Frkn gross and so many people have no idea

[@tracybowling1156]

I'm very interested in why you can order fleas? I can see that need for studying purposes. But do other bugs or insects feed on them?

[@AntLab]

for science, mostly, i think

[@jubi400]

Is there a difference between cat and dog fleas? Or are they all basically the same? Very interesting video! Thank you.

[@someguydino6770]

nice presentation....but why am I itching now?

[@kforest2745]

I think I saw this previously somewhere maybe it was here on an earlier run

[@SJHFoto]

I'm on my way to see Cicadas emerge. Will you be studying them? I'd imagine you would be in North Carolina

[@Guds777]

If we could jump like this we wouldn't need to use airplanes... :D

[@keyholeGX]

I want to see what the pupae look like!

[@josephbohme7917]

Does the larvae sense smell and or seek it or a light what prompts a direction heading>>>

[@pereirinhadrone-1948]

Todos os seus vídeos são muito interessantes.

[@barbarusezz7008]

have you tried glass surface or any smooth surface that wont allow them to grasp ??

[@christianterrill3503]

Anyone else itchy?

[@GTMemes2]

I'm amazed Totally .. What's amazing is.. I can't figure out If I'm insane for clicking on this Or you're insane for watching how fleas move and posting videos about it ?? 😂😂

[@erikiacopelli451]

Not really on topic but I just got into mounting insects. But I wanna do they're whole life cycle. From egg to adult n everything in-between. But how do u preserve the eggs n larvae forms?

[@kona702]

Fleas be like weeeee

[@scottbruner9266]

You talk about “cat fleas”. I have two cats, and a dog. Do they get different species of fleas, or do they “share” the same one?

[@haraya_manawari]

please tell me you burned them all after the reasearch is done

[@samdumaquis2033]

Wow

[@jz3953]

Show me the transformation please.

[@lotanerve]

So where the hell do they think they're going?