Kendrick Nakamura has 43 pets. Two are rabbits, one is a cat, and all the others are freshly caught queen ants he hopes will start their own colonies. In a matter of months, he’ll likely have hundreds more ants to take care of, and he can’t wait.

“They’re like a miniature society,” Nakamura says. “You can see them 'talking' to each other by feeling out with their antennae. In the nest you can watch messages like 'there's food!' or 'here, have some of this sugar water’ as they share with each other. It's fascinating.”

Right now Nakamura’s queen ants are living inside small glass test-tubes in a large plastic crate on his bedroom dresser. Though he’s had hundreds of ant colonies over