Mother Nature knows no mercy.

Just got done watching this movie called "The Besieged Fortress" I picked up as one of my birthday presents (basically I was given a hundred bucks and told "go nuts"). If you like Zoofights, and if you're reading this blog you probably do, I recommend this film. The Besieged Fortress is basically a cross between a nature documentary and an action film. It's real life but with an emphasis on the dramatic.

The basic plot follows the numerous trials of an African termite colony as they attempt to fend off natural disasters and invading ant hordes. The cast includes the termite colony, three different species of ants, and a number of "cameo" animals like a snake, a tarantula, a vulture, and a chameleon. A praying mantis makes an appearance at the film's start along with a scorpion and the chameleon to attack the winged "prince" and "princess" termites who are meant to breed and start new colonies. Surviving princes and princesses begin constructing their fortress and become king and queen. Eventually, there are millions of termites and the queen has become a massive bloated immobile egg-laying machine.

Everything starts going to shit when a lightning bolt strikes a nearby tree, which topples and damages the termite stronghold. Dust kicks up in the colony, followed by mudslides when it begins to rain. The queen only barely survives, and no sooner have the termites started to recover than the driver ants arrive.

Driver ants are the film's main antagonists, effortlessly bulldozing through every animal in their path as they roam in search of food. When the ant queen picks up the scent of termites, she directs her army into battle, leading to the film's climax as the two armies wage war.

It's not a really hardcore "educational" documentary, but you're going to come away knowing a lot more about driver ants and termites and their societies, and you'll probably have a new respect for insects after seeing what they're capable of.