Drone attacked and killed by ants (warning - graphic content)

During my afternoon bee visit I noticed one of my drones on the ground not appearing too well. I picked him up and inspected him for mites and deformed wings. From the surface all looked good so I put him back on the ground. As he walked up the leg of the hive he stumbled a bit and then fell to the ground (part 1 0:11).

Nearby some ants were cleaning up and removing a dead worker (0:25). One of them must have seen a “weak” member of the hive (0:42). That was all she wrote. An ant really starts to attack (1:05). The drone valiantly tries to fend off the ant (1:08). Then it goes to 2 on 1 (1:18). One particularly viscous ant goes for the “heart” (1:40). Then the attack of the limbs starts (1:48). It appears that the ant(s) go for the limbs and start trying to cut them off and yanks one off! (1:49). Ant reinforcements arrive (2:13). They start dragging my poor drone by its antennae (2:47). Really trying to get a wing off (3:28). A fourth ant joins the fight (5:07).

The attack gets serious.

Six ants now pile on. Only one leg appears to be intact at this point.

IT goes on …

A bit of an insult, one ant takes time to clean up to resume the battle (0:35).

Thank goodness for exoskeletons.

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Looks like the bull ants in Australia that have bitten me before :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:
At least nothing gets wasted in Australia

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