#leafcutter ant facts

[wild-wow-facts]

Secrets of the Leafcutter Ants Revealed

Discover the amazing world of leafcutter ants! These remarkable insects showcase teamwork, agriculture, and unique adaptations that are sure to fascinate you.

Check out my other videos here: Animal Kingdom Animal Facts Animal Education

[animal-of-the-day]

leaf-cutter ant :D

Animal of the day: Leafcutter Ants!

Leafcutter ants are ants that use leaves to grow fungus! They cut sections of the leaves, carry them back to their nest, and use them as compost for the fungus which they then harvest and feed to their larvae.

Leafcutter ants can lift 20 times their own body weight! They are endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and parts of the southern United States.

[the-ancient-dragons]

The last Overcomplicated Pantalan tribe; LeafWings!

You know how it goes. I'm just me and Joy and Tui are awesome and amazing.

Details and explanation below.

Otherwise, next week is something new! You'll get to meet one of my fantribes >:)

More overcomplicated dragons.

With the LeafWing, I struggled to decide what approach to take. Should I do something closer to canon or go crazy and do 100% my go-to headcanon?

Because my go-to headcanon is that LeafWings should have four wings. I found it odd that they and SilkWings both come from Pyrrhia, but SilkWings (technically BeetleWings) were the only tribe that evolved four wings? I hesitated to even mention this in my HiveWing post because idk how popular this opinion is, but even the fact that Clearsight's arrival somehow split the BeetheWings into two WILDLY different tribes is astounding, with how long dragons live.

But that's not the point of this post. We're here for LeafWings and buckle up, it's a doozy.

So first of all, the reason I justified a four-winged LeafWing is to help it camouflage as a plant better. I'll eventually provide a sheet of this, but it would have two main defence modes, the first being a single-leaf version where they lie flat on the ground or stand still with their wings drooping, creating the silhouette of a single leaf, or a version where they hang on the end of a branch and hold their wings and tail out.

It isn't just their wings that creates this look. I took the original single sail and split it in two, based on the ribs of a draco lizard, and had them run along the sides of its neck. When spread, they are a part of the single-leaf camouflage and bridge the gap between the head and shoulders. They would also have more similar frills on their front and back legs in case they need to camouflage standing up. They could use this for hunting or hiding...

Continuing with the bug-avian beak mix, I referenced african parrot species and leafcutter ants. The highly altered head is based on horned frogs and leaf geckos, and I obviously based the colouration and patterning on leaf insects (though the lighting kind of hides it on the back of the head, lol). Last but not least, I wanted to preserve and enhance the leaf cell design Joy used for the scattered body scales (at least, I'm 90% sure it's for that purpose, it seems most obvious). So, like any sane human, I found photos of plant cells under microscopes and used the rectangular-ish shapes for the main body scales.

I had so much fun making this series. It seems like a lot of people enjoyed it as much as I did. I learned a lot about external anatomy and mixing different creatures to achieve unified designs.

School is doing its best to murder me (I can't do big pieces) so from now on I'll have to stick to loose sketches I can do in-class or doodle within an hour. But once we learn more about bones and muscles I'll be able to take a crack at analyzing the full bodies of some of the tribes. I'll go in whatever order I see fit.

In the meantime, I've got some Fantribes for you, starting next week! See you then!

[mapis-putellas]

𝑹𝒆𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒕/𝑩.𝑴𝒆𝒂𝒅

The day started off on a high note for you. It was one of those rare mornings where you woke up feeling genuinely light, like the world had shed some of its weight overnight. The hum of the fridge didn’t bother you. The texture of your favorite jumper felt soft and familiar instead of scratchy and overwhelming. Even the rain tapping against the windows sounded more like a rhythm than a distraction.

Beth, however, wasn’t her usual self. Normally, she’d greet you with a teasing grin, pulling you into a hug and pressing kisses to your cheek. But today, her posture was slouched and her usual sparkling blue eyes seemed dull.

“Morning,” you said brightly as you bounced on your toes near the kitchen counter, watching her sip her tea.

“Morning,” she replied, barely looking at you.

You tilted your head, studying her for a moment. You weren’t always great at picking up emotions, but even you could tell something wasn’t right. Still, you didn’t press. Beth wasn’t one to bottle things up for long, and if she needed to talk, she would.

Instead, you decided to focus on your rare good mood, hoping some of your energy might rub off on her.

“I was reading about leafcutter ants this morning,” you started, your voice bubbling with excitement. “Did you know they use the leaves to grow fungus? They can’t actually eat the leaves—they’re just farmers! Isn’t that amazing?”

Beth didn’t respond, her gaze fixed on her tea. You took her silence as an invitation to continue, bouncing slightly as you spoke.

“And their colonies are huge, Beth. Like, millions of ants! And they’re so organized. They’ve got these tiny highways, and they even have guards to protect them from predators.”

“Mm-hmm,” Beth muttered, her tone distracted.

You frowned slightly but pushed on, determined to cheer her up. “And there’s this one type of butterfly that’s evolved to mimic ant larvae so it can live in the nest. The ants actually take care of it, thinking it’s one of their own!”

“Can you stop?”

Her words were sharp and unexpected, slicing through your excitement like a knife. You froze, your hands halfway through a gesture to explain the butterfly’s mimicry.

Beth sighed, setting her tea down with more force than necessary. “I mean it. Just… shut up for a bit, yeah? I can’t deal with this right now.”

Her tone was clipped, her voice tinged with irritation, and it hit you like a physical blow. Your arms dropped to your sides, and the bouncing that had accompanied your words came to an abrupt halt.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, your voice barely above a whisper. You couldn’t meet her eyes, your gaze fixed on the floor as your cheeks burned with embarrassment.

Beth didn’t say anything else, her silence echoing louder than her words ever could. You turned quickly, retreating to the safety of your shared bedroom.

Once inside, you closed the door behind you and crawled under the duvet, pulling it tightly around yourself like a cocoon. The warmth was a small comfort, but it did little to stem the flood of emotions swirling in your chest. You felt silly, embarrassed, and most of all, ashamed.

The things you shared with Beth, the endless stream of facts and curiosities that made up so much of who you were, had always brought her joy. She’d tease you for your “insect obsession,” but her smile and laughter told you she loved it. Except for today.

You curled up tighter, the covers muffling the sound of your uneven breathing. Your fingers itched to graze over something soft—Beth’s skin, usually—but you didn’t dare go back to her now.

Time passed slowly, and you stayed hidden beneath the duvet, your mind replaying the moment over and over again. You barely heard the soft knock on the door.

“Love?” Beth’s voice was quiet, hesitant.

You didn’t respond, unsure if you even could.

The door creaked open, and you felt the mattress dip as Beth sat beside you. Her hand hesitated before resting gently on your shoulder, the touch tentative.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “I didn’t mean to snap at you like that.”

You didn’t move, your face still buried in the pillow.

Beth sighed, shifting to lay beside you. She tugged the duvet back just enough to slip underneath, wrapping an arm around your waist.

“You didn’t deserve that,” she continued, her voice soft but firm. “I’m having a bad day, and I took it out on you. That wasn’t fair.”

You sniffled, finally turning your head to look at her. Her eyes were filled with regret, her brows knitted together in concern.

“I just wanted to make you happy,” you murmured, your voice trembling.

Beth’s face crumpled, and she pulled you closer, tucking your head under her chin. “You always make me happy,” she said fiercely. “I was just being an idiot. None of this is your fault.”

Her words were a balm, but the sting of the earlier moment still lingered. You stayed silent, letting her hold you as you tried to sort through your jumbled emotions.

Beth pressed a kiss to your temple, her lips lingering. “I love hearing about your ants and your butterflies and whatever else you’re excited about. Don’t stop telling me, okay?”

You nodded slowly, your fingers creeping up under her shirt to rest against the soft skin of her back. The familiar sensation grounded you, and you felt your breathing start to even out.

*

The rest of the day passed in a haze of uncertainty. Even as Beth’s arms stayed firmly wrapped around you on the couch, a warmth that should have comforted you, your body felt stiff and hesitant, your mind playing on a loop of her earlier words.

Shut up.

You replayed the moment in your head over and over again, analyzing every detail, every nuance of her tone, even as you knew it would only make your chest tighten further. It wasn’t just the words themselves. It was the way they had stripped away the small confidence you’d built in sharing your world with her.

Beth’s head rested against your shoulder, her fingers absently tracing patterns on your thigh. Normally, you would have responded in some way —leaned into her, placed a hand over hers, or even tucked her closer. But now, you just sat there, frozen, your eyes fixed on the muted television screen.

“You okay, love?” Beth’s voice was soft, cautious, but even that wasn’t enough to undo the knot in your stomach.

You nodded quickly, your gaze darting to her for only a moment before returning to the screen.

She shifted beside you, sitting up a little straighter. “Sure? You’ve gone quiet on me.”

Your hands instinctively pulled at the sleeves of her oversized hoodie, the fabric soft between your fingers as you bit down gently on the cuff. It was a habit Beth had seen countless times before, but the added bounce of your leg gave you away.

“I’m fine,” you murmured, though the waver in your voice betrayed you.

Beth frowned, her hand moving to rest on your knee in an attempt to still its movement. You flinched ever so slightly at the contact, and her frown deepened.

“Talk to me,” she urged gently, her thumb stroking over the fabric of your leggings.

You shook your head, swallowing hard. Your chest felt too tight, your throat too constricted to form any proper words.

Beth sighed softly, leaning back into the couch. “You’re still upset, aren’t you?”

You hesitated, unsure how to respond. You didn’t want to upset her further, didn’t want to say the wrong thing. But the silence stretched too long, and you felt her shift again, this time pulling away slightly.

“Hey,” she said, her voice firmer now. “Don’t do that thing where you go quiet on me. Please.”

“I’m not,” you replied quickly, though it was a lie and you both knew it.

Beth exhaled sharply, and though she didn’t say anything, the sound made your shoulders tense. You bit harder on your sleeve, your teeth sinking into the fabric as you fought to keep your emotions in check.

She didn’t push further, and the silence that followed felt unbearably heavy.

Dinner was equally strained. Beth had offered to cook, her way of making up for earlier, but you couldn’t bring yourself to accept the gesture fully. Instead, you sat at the kitchen table, your hands tucked under your thighs as you watched her move about the space.

Normally, you’d be beside her, stealing bites of whatever she was making and asking a million questions about the recipe—or, more likely, telling her about a new book you’d read or an interesting fact you’d discovered. But now, you barely said a word, your focus entirely on the way her blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she worked.

Beth glanced at you a few times, her brows furrowed, but she didn’t comment. Instead, she slid a plate in front of you once everything was ready, her expression softening as she sat across from you.

“Eat up,” she said, her tone light but watchful.

You nodded, picking up your fork and poking at the food without much enthusiasm.

“You don’t like it?” she asked after a moment, her voice laced with worry.

“No, it’s good,” you replied quickly, though you didn’t take a bite to prove it.

Beth watched you for a long moment, her fork paused midway to her mouth. “You’re still biting your sleeve.”

Your hand froze, the fabric of her hoodie still pressed to your lips. You hadn’t even realized you were doing it.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, dropping your hand to your lap.

“Don’t apologize,” Beth said immediately, her voice soft. “I’m just… worried about you. I hate seeing you like this.”

You didn’t respond, focusing instead on your plate as you tried to will your leg to stop bouncing under the table.

Beth sighed, setting her fork down. “I know I upset you earlier, and I’m so sorry for that. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I was in a mood, and I took it out on you, and that’s not fair.”

You nodded faintly, still not looking at her.

“Love, please.” Her voice cracked slightly, and it made your chest ache.

Finally, you glanced up, meeting her gaze for only a second before looking away again. “I’m fine,” you said quietly, though it was clear to both of you that you weren’t.

Beth reached across the table, her fingers brushing against yours. You flinched again, pulling your hand back instinctively.

The hurt in her eyes was immediate, and you felt a pang of guilt so sharp it made your stomach churn.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

You looked at her then, really looked at her, and saw the sincerity in her expression. She was trying. She always tried. But you couldn’t shake the lingering fear that had taken root in your chest.

“I don’t want to annoy you again,” you admitted, your voice trembling.

Beth’s eyes widened, and she immediately stood, rounding the table settle on your lap. She cupped your face gently, her thumbs brushing away the tears you hadn’t realized had started to fall.

“You could never annoy me,” she said firmly, her blue eyes locking onto yours. “I was being a grumpy cow earlier, and I snapped, but that’s on me—not you. I love everything about you, okay? Especially the way you get excited about things and want to share them with me. That’s one of my favorite things about you.”

You searched her face, looking for any sign of insincerity, but all you saw was love and regret.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered, though you weren’t entirely sure what you were apologizing for.

Beth shook her head, pulling you into a hug. “Don’t be. Just… don’t stop being you, yeah? I don’t want you to feel like you have to hold back around me.”

You clung to her, your arms wrapping tightly around her waist as you buried your face in her shoulder. Her fingers ran soothingly through your hair, and for the first time that day, you felt yourself start to relax.

**

Tags:

@ceesimz @marysfics @girlgenius1111 @codiemarin @simp4panos @silentwolfsstuff @goldenempyrean @xxnaiaxx @liloandstitchstan

[surging-eyes-seeing-through]

I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT YOUR BUG FACT YESTERDAY!!! 😭😭😭 As a result I will give you two bug facts today!

The fastest animal on the planet is the peregrine falcon! It can reach speeds of over 200 mph (320 km/h) while diving. The record speed for a peregrine is 242 mph (389 km/h)! This is faster than most cars are physically capable of traveling. (I know it’s not an eagle or a hawk but falcons are pretty sick too!)

Leafcutter ants developed agriculture before humans did. Like 15,000,000 years before humans did. The leaves they cut up (the reason for their namesake) are actually used to sustain a type of fungus, which they then cultivate for food. The ants also help keep the fungus safe from pests and monitor their health to determine what kind of leaves to collect for them.

Apologies again for forgetting your bug fact yesterday Mr. Apollo! Also while I’m here yapping, Happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate it, and Happy Out Of Touch Thursday if not! Anyone or anything you feel particularly grateful for?

~🐢

"A lot of... animal facts, lately. I guess it's sort of close to bugs?" (Closer than, um... video game facts?)

"Oh, yeah, I know about peregrines... not the exact numbers, but you know. Even if I wouldn't consider them my favorite, I'd say they're pretty cool. Didn't know the thing about the ants, though... not sure what to think about that, honestly."

"As for what I'm thankful for... I... mm. My friends, definitely. That and the fact that I'm not dead." (Which is a feat in of itself...)

[illarian-rambling]

Ant story? Come on dude, you can’t drop that lore and then not explain

Ok, so I'll start by just posting what I have in my notes app, which was taken directly off my discord

Watching an ant documentary and now I want to write a high fantasy war drama about ants a lá watership downI'd do my best to keep the fact that they're ants hidden or just write them as people doing ant things in an alien world It's gotta be like Shakespearian in scale tho A leafcutter woman attempting to abscond with one of the queen's harem before they're raided by warriors of the wandering bullet tribe, only to be beset by cordyceps and imposter caterpillars Will they make their own kingdom? Will they perish tragically? Will their loyalty to the queen override their love for one another? Who knows There's gotta be some weird hive mind shit called the Order or something that's just pheromones At the end they all die in the end to human loggers because im imagining this in the rainforest I think making them humans and letting people figure out that they're supposed to be ants would be more interesting than straight watership downing it They can have a little more society, some traveling bee merchants as a treat Bullet ants will play the viking role, spiders will be demon like figures I could make the actual humans giant ants, but then again, ants can't see well so might might just describe them with smell I'd def go with leafcutter ants as protags tho because they already do agriculture

I typed this while highly engrossed in a very riveting documentary. Will anything ever come of it? Not anytime soon, but maybe someday. I'd have to play it as serious as a funeral to get both the cosmic horror and dramatic irony inherent in animal stories.

Thanks for taking my bait and letting me talk about it!

[bithermal]

Seeing everyone fascinated by the Leafcutter Ants Foolish took pictures of was a brutal reminder that it was not in fact normal to only watch Animal Planet from the ages of 6-10.

[crevicedwelling]

can you identify some bugs i know the first one is spider and the second one is mantis but i was wondering specific species

spider is in kinda rural texas about an hour and a half from houston mantis is in the state of puebla in mexico

also a squirrel if you can tell me if that's like the way the species is or if he has melanism. found in mexico city. i saw at least two squirrels like this in different areas

also: the mantis was already in the room when we got to the hotel, i moved it onto the bed for a better photo and then i put it outside in some grass by some trees. hope i did the right thing. dad would have killed it if it didnt get out of the room. also there were hairy headed leaf cutter ants there. not an important fact but i think they were interesting because it was the first time i had seen leafcutter ants.

Philodromus sp., Stagmomantis limbata, melanistic Sciurus aureogaster

[delilahjk]

you know what upsets me?? what really grinds my gears?? the fact that there's no ant fandom! no ant hype!! bee people have their cute "save the bees" totebags and honey themed items and bumblebees are seen as cute and are embroidered on baby clothes and such. why the FUCK are we not showing the same level of appreciation for ANTS !?!? I love ants. I ADORE ants. Why don't ants get to be cute!?!?! why aren't ants worth saving!?!?!

this post is brought to you by a leafcutter ant fan 🐜🌿

[madame-mongoose]

Favorite type of ant?

Leafcutter ants!!! I think they are fascinating. The fact they built such a strong bond with the fungus they farm that if one died the other would too is crazy. They are so strong and beautiful and intelligent. Would love to see some someday

[cybersp4ced]

fun ant fact

if you take a branch and leave the leaves near the leafcutter ants they will be like "fuck. this is An Obstacle" they have no idea that its food if its not on the tree. This might be part of their quality control? didnt have the time to check if theyd eventually recognize it but i doubt it

[curiousobsession101]

Leafcutter ants' fungus farms are delightfully complex. They do a lot of weeding of unwanted fungi from their fungus gardens and also protect their desired fungi from diseases as much as possible. The latter often means removing any fungus the moment it starts showing symptoms. When a new leafcutter queen leaves to establish a new colony, she takes a cutting of fungus with her to establish the new farm. Pathogens that affect the ants' fungi don't seem to travel with the queen, but it's been a while since I studied this and at the time the exact mechanism/method responsible for that fact was unknown. They have to be careful about fungus diseases because their farms are clonal colonies of fungus and the lack of genetic diversity leaves them extra vulnerable to disease.

As for the tarantulas with pet frogs, my understanding is that parent tarantulas will sometimes gift their offspring some of the burrow's frogs to take with them when they establish their own burrows. But I haven't specifically studied them so I might be incorrect.

Wait, which animals raise livestock?

Several species of ants will 'herd' aphids around (a type of plant lice)- even picking them up and putting them back with the group if they wander off. The ants will attack anything that approaches their aphid herds, defending them. The aphids produce a sugary excretion called honeydew, which the ants harvest and eat.

Some ants will even 'milk' the aphids, stroking the aphids with their antennae, to stimulate them to release honeydew. Some aphids have become 'domesticated' by the ants, and depend entirely on their caretaker ants to milk them.

When the host plant is depleted of resources and dies, the ants will pick up their herd of aphids and carry them to a new plant to feed on - a new 'pasture' if you will.

Some ants continue to care for aphids overwinter, when otherwise they'd die. The ants carry aphid eggs into their own nests, and will even go out of their way to destroy the eggs of aphid-predators, like ladybugs.

--

Microhylids – or narrow-mouthed frogs - have an interesting symbiosis with Tarantulas.

While the spiders could very easily kill and eat the much-tinier frogs, and DO normally prey on small frogs, young spiders instead will use their mouthparts to pick up the microhylid frogs, bring them back to their burrow, and release them unharmed.

The frog benefits from hanging out in/around the burrow of the tarantula, because the tarantula can scare away or eat predators that normally prey on tiny frogs, like snakes, geckos, and mantids. The tarantula gets a babysitter.

Microhylid frogs specialize in eating ants, and ants are one of the major predators of spider eggs. By eating ants, the frogs protect the spider's eggs. The frogs can also lay their eggs in the burrow, and won't be eaten by the spider.

So it's less 'livestock' and more like a housepet - a dog or a cat. You stop coyotes/eagles from hurting your little dog/cat, and in return the dog/cat keeps rats away from your baby.

--

Damselfish grow algae on rocks and corals. They defend these gardens ferociously, and will attack anything that comes too close - even humans. They spend much of their time weeding the gardens, removing unwanted algaes that might overtake their crop.

The species of algae that they cultivate is weak and and sensitive to growing conditions, and can easily be overgrazed by other herbivores. That particular algae tends to grow poorly in areas where damselfish aren't around to protect and farm it.

Damselfish will ALSO actively protect Mysidium integrum (little shrimp-like crustacians) in their reef farms, despite eating other similarly sized invertebrates. The mysids are filter feeders, who feed on zooplankton and free-floating algae, and their waste fertilizes the algae farms. Many types of zooplankton can feed on the algae crop, and the mysids prevent that.

While Mysids can be found around the world, the only place you'll find swarms of Musidium integrum is on the algae farms that Damselfish cultivate.

Damselfish treat the little mysids like some homesteaders treat ducks. Ducks eat snails and other insect pests on our crops, and their poop fertilizes the land. The ducks can be eaten, but aren't often, since they're more useful for their services than their meat.

--

There are SEVERAL species of insect and animal which actively farm. They perform fungiculture and horticulture: deliberately growing and harvesting fungus and plants at a large-scale to feed their population.

Leaf-cutter ants and Termites both chew up plant material and then seed it with a specific type of fungus. The fungus grows, and the termites/ants harvest the mushroom as a food source.

Ambrosia beetles burrow into decaying trees, hollow out little farming rooms, and introduce a specific fungii (the ambrosia fungi), which both adults and larval beetles feed on.

Marsh Periwinkles (a type of snail) cultivates fungus on cordgrass. They wound the plant with their scraping tongue, then defecate into the wound so their preferred fungus will infect it and grow there. They let the fungus grow in the wound a bit, and come back later to eat.

[infinitewisdomhub]

The Hidden Wonders of the Animal Kingdom: 10 Lesser-Known Facts

The Hidden Wonders of the Animal Kingdom: 10 Lesser-Known Facts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbA-X6NOo4 Dive into the astonishing secrets of the animal kingdom with today’s video, where we unveil 10 lesser-known facts that will both amaze and educate you! From unbelievable survival skills to extraordinary behaviors, these revelations are sure to pique the curiosity of anyone with a love for nature. Whether you’re a seasoned wildlife enthusiast or just discovering your interest, these insights offer a fresh perspective on the world’s most intriguing creatures. Don’t forget to like and share this video if you find these animal facts as fascinating as we do! #AnimalKingdom #WildlifeFacts #NatureLovers #EducationalContent OUTLINE: 00:00:00 A World of Wonders 00:00:56 Parrotfish's Role in Beach Formation 00:01:52 The Immortal Jellyfish 00:02:49 The Mimicry of the Lyrebird 00:03:44 The Detachable Tail of the Gecko 00:04:15 The Speed of the Peregrine Falcon 00:05:11 The Language of Prairie Dogs 00:06:09 The Size of the Blue Whale's Heart 00:06:45 The Echolocation of Bats 00:07:44 The Memory of Octopuses 00:08:18 The Strength of the Leafcutter Ant 00:08:49 Outro via Infinite Wisdom Hub https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0MZnCI_6l3Nm6FDd5G7oyQ May 25, 2024 at 07:00AM

[anenvs3000f23]

Post #8

Blog post #8

There are seemingly infinite amazing things one can learn about nature. From simple life strategies of plants and animals, to the most complex interactions between even the different kingdoms of life there is always something new and exciting to learn. One of my favourite facts to share comes from my time working as a nature interpreter at a butterfly conservatory.  Of the many tropical species on hand the Australian spiny stick insect has one of the most interesting ways to “care” for its young. The females of this species can reproduce parthenogenetically meaning they can create offspring without a male by cloning their genetics.one a fertile egg has been created, the female will fling the egg from the treetop in which she resides. The eggs are produced with a polysaccharide coating on the outside; once on the forest floor the sugar is detected by ants as a food source where they will carry the eggs back to their food stores. While in the ants nest the egg receives protection until it is ready to hatch. The hatchings of this species actually resemble ants quite closely so as to not alert the colony upon their emergence. The hatchlings can then just walk out of the nest and make their way to some foliage for their first meal. The relationship of these two species is an example of commensalism; where one species benefits from the interaction while the other receives no benefit or harm.

 A more familiar symbiotic relationship may be that of the leafcutter ants. This species of ant has been farming millions of years before the first instance of human agriculture. For about 50 million years leafcutter ants have been cultivating and feeding on a fungus that they maintain in their nests. The species of fungus is one that is only found in leafcutter ant colonies as the many years of coevolution have made the fungus dependent on the ants. The ants get their namesake for the way they cut and collect leaf pieces. However, the ants do not possess the enzymes to be able to break down the tough lignin and cellulose in the plant leaves. The fungus, however, does possess the enzymes. Hence the ants feed the leaves to the fungus to digest then feeding on the nutrient enriched hyphae as their food source. Interestingly , the fungal digestive enzymes are also indigestible by the ants. Meaning the digestive enzymes of the fungus will pass through the ant unchanged. The ants make efficient use of this by excreting on the most metabolically active portion of the fungus to aid in the digestion of the plant material. This type of symbiosis is a classic example of mutualism where both organisms benefit from the interaction. These are just two examples of a plethora of complex interspecies relationships with more being described all the time. Often nature is more complex than it seems on the surface, as long as you know where to look

[mfenvs3000f23]

The OG Agronomists

Interpret (through this blog) the most amazing thing you know about nature – get us excited. This is your blog – you audience isn’t out in the field with you so bring the field to your armchair reader.

Most people that know me, know that I am a bug person. Sometimes, they ask me what the coolest thing about bugs is. I think there’s loads, however I usually always respond with the same answer. Insect agriculture! I first learned about this in-depth last winter semester, when I took ENVS 3090, Insect Diversity & Biology. Therefore, my source is Dr. Andrew Young, but I will cite and link some literature, so you don’t just have to take my word for it!

Insects have been doing agriculture way longer than we have! We think insect agriculture started somewhere between 50-90 million years ago. The origins of farming insects (phys.org)

Humans only started using this practice somewhere around 12 000 years ago. The Development of Agriculture (nationalgeographic.org). Granted, insects have been around way way longer than we have, but I still think this is a crazy feat.

Let’s start with leaf cutter ants. There are around 40 species, and they are characterized by their behavior of chopping up and carrying leaves. Their job of cutting the leaves is made easier by their specialized mandibles, which are like tiny insect power tools. Their jaws vibrate and are super strong, the equivalent of a person carrying a car between their teeth. Just absolutely wild!!!!!

It would make sense to assume that they eat these leaves, but they actually do not use the leaves themselves as a food source! They consume the sap, before carrying the leaves back to their colony. There, they crush the leaves, put them in piles, and inoculate the piles with fungal spores. The ants secrete a substance that protects the fungus from harmful microbes, insuring them a well-nurtured crop. This fungus grows and is fed to the immatures of the colony. To me, the craziest thing about this is that the fungus type is colony-specific and is not found anywhere else. They also have varying caste sizes and “jobs”, for example there are larger ants that clear the forage paths and carry the leaves, while smaller castes will hang out on the leaves being carried, to defend them from parasitoid wasps that want to lay eggs on the leaves. Super cool that they all have a skill that they were made to do!

9 Facts About Leafcutter Ants (treehugger.com)

Then there’s the Termitidae that grows the Termitomyces fungi. The termites forage around for plant material to bring back to the colony, and as they do this, they pick up fungus from the environment. This fungus will also find its way into their specialized gut, where it gets pooped out onto the plant matter they have brought to the colony. The fungus then grows inside the colony and is used as a food source for all castes and life stages. Multiple species of fungus often end up growing, and sometimes the termites will even select for the most productive and successful type. Even termites have a favourite dish on the menu! Termitomyces fungus combs—formation, structure, and functional aspects - ScienceDirect

The last one I will talk about is the ambrosia beetle, known for cultivating the ambrosia fungus. They use their mandibles to carve out galleries in bark, where they will end up planting their fungus spores. The spores are carried by the females in a built-in pouch they have on their bodies. The fungus is used to feed immatures, as well as the adults. The larvae are put in the galleries so that as they grow, they can feed. Before leaving their maternal gallery, they will fill their own pouches with the fungus so that they can grow their own source in a new gallery. Like the leaf cutter ant’s fungus, the ambrosia fungus is not found any place other than ambrosia beetle galleries! Our use of the word “galleries” makes me imagine these carved-out pockets as canvases that the beetles use to decorate with the fungus. Ambrosia beetles breed and maintain their own food fungi (phys.org)

I remember in one of our textbook readings, there was a chapter that explained how mentioning the fact that something is amazing or spectacular can sometimes take away from the information/presentation/view etc. So, I will not do that here.

I just picture these species being so content with their food choice that they’ve decided they’re going to have the same breakfast, lunch and dinner forever and ever and honestly, I relate because that is how I feel about pasta.

Animals big or small, we’re all just out here trying to feed ourselves and our families as efficiently as possible. Maybe we aren’t as different as it may seem. (continued in a second post)

[xtruss]

Atta Leafcutter Ants, native to the Amazon region of South America, cutting up the leaves using their manibles and carrying the segments back to their nests. Getty Images

What Ants Can Teach Us About Working Together

— By Hearher Campbell and Benjamin Blanchard February 17, 2023 | Time Magazine | Ideas—Science

Campbell holds a PhD in ecological entomology from the University of Reading and is a lecturer in entomology at Harper Adams University in Shropshire, UK. Blanchard holds a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Chicago and is a postdoctoral researcher at the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Yunnan, China. They are the authors of Ants: A Visual Guide

If you’re reading this, you’re probably not an ant. In fact, it is exceedingly likely that you’re human. Perhaps you’re a construction worker, laying bricks for a new high-rise building downtown. Or maybe you’re a parent, engaged in a near futile struggle to lay your howling baby to rest each night. You could even be an office worker, toiling away each day for the benefit of a faceless corporation while struggling to even find the time to enjoy Marvel’s Ant-Man in theaters.

But what if you were an ant? What could social insect living do for you?

Every individual worker in an ant colony is part of a collective—a female dominated society with one or more reproductive individuals (usually queens, occasionally egg-laying workers) at the helm. Having mated with a tragically short-lived male, the queen stores up his sperm in a special pouch, a spermatheca, and turns her energy to the business of laying eggs. The first-gen workers survive on further eggs laid by the queen until they’re old enough to forage themselves. From there, the colony goes from strength to strength. Workers are continuously produced in overlapping generations. They divide up the chores of finding food, nest construction, defense, and raising future offspring. Lest this seem a mundane existence, the employment of this cooperative strategy is astonishingly successful. A single colony can contain millions of ants. Globally, there are at least 20 quadrillion individuals. Ant biomass exceeds that of all wild birds and mammals combined. The numbers don’t lie—ants are doing something right, and whatever it is, they are doing it together.

Imagine you are an Oecophylla Weaver Ant. Living a tropical life in the trees, your whole community would share in the task of building homes, warehouses, and working facilities for each other. Standing side by side, your colony would utilize their collective powers to bind leaves together with larval silk, forming large dome-like constructions in the trees. Each member of your society would treat every other member as their sibling, even you. Any unsafe conditions at the construction site—like a threatening ant-eating tree frog—would be immediately understood as a threat to everyone and dealt with accordingly. No need to wait years for your complaint to be resolved by a negligent company executive.

Now take a moment to think even smaller, small enough for your family to occupy a hollowed-out acorn. As a Temnothorax Acorn Ant, you would never raise a child alone. Of course, you would also be unlikely to raise a child genetically your own! Working within the colony, you care for offspring that are your sisters, carefully tending the eggs laid by your mother as they grow first into larvae and then pupae. The continuous production of eggs by the queen means that multiple generations live together, all pitching in to help. Labor is subdivided according to who is best suited to a task with roles switching with age. Tasks might involve bringing larvae food, keeping pupae clean, or ensuring no harm befalls newly laid eggs. Gone is the individual expectation that the reproductive individual is also the sole provider of all caring duties. Instead, roles are taken up inside and outside the home by a range of extended family, then rotated according to the most suitable individual for the task at hand.

If you were an Atta Leafcutter Ant, you would share in the fruits of your foliage-foraging labor. Day after day, you trek to and from a nearby tree, hoisting your leafy loot up high as you follow an extensive pheromone trail back to your cavernous underground nest. Although you would not break into a sweat like some mammal, you may acutely feel the oppressive rays of the hot tropical sun. Despite such conditions, you do not experience alienation from your labor—quite the opposite. The leaves you carry are ground into mulch, which fertilizes mutualistic fungal gardens and provides sustenance for the whole colony. This food, in addition to other liquid resources recovered outside the nest, may be stored in the crop of numerous workers who distribute the food among nest members through “oral-oral trophallaxis”—the refined process of spitting into each others’ mouths. The food you so strenuously worked to obtain disappears not into the stockpiles of strangers but into the bellies of your siblings and yourself.

Alas, you are neither a Weaver Ant, nor an Acorn Ant, nor a Leafcutter Ant, nor an ant of any kind. You appear to be a human. Accordingly, you lack the innate, communal drive of your insect counterparts. Yet unlike ants, you do possess the capacity to imagine.

Imagine, then, a human society that is just a little more ant-like than your own. What do you see?