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Most organisms forage, hunt, or use photosynthesis to get food, but around 50 million years ago — long before humans were around — ants began cultivating and growing their own food.
Leafcutter ants have very specific roles in taking care of the fungal garden and dumping the refuse. Waste management is a key role for each colony's longevity. The necrotrophic parasitic fungus Escovopsis threatens the ants' food source and thus is a constant danger to the ants. The waste transporters and waste-heap workers are the older, more ...
The food is first ground to a bread-like consistency using the ants' large mandibles, and is then stored in a granary, assuring the colony access to food year-round. Seed collection on behalf of the red harvester ants benefits their ecosystem through the process of myrmecochory , in which ants aid in the dispersal of seeds while foraging for food.
The use of the term "agriculture", which may not be entirely appropriate for mutualistic relationships—particularly in cases where a colony is hosted by a plant, such as a tree, in exchange for protection and aid in its survival and growth—is well documented in the scientific literature for processes where ants create crops and directly cultivate plants or fungi.
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Ants as a colony also work as a collective "super mind". Ants can compare areas and solve complex problems by using information gained by each member of the colony to find the best nesting site or to find food. [2] Some social-parasitic species of ants, known as the slave-making ant, raid and steal larvae from neighboring colonies. [19]
When you're dining outdoors, it's important to take measures to prevent ants, flies and other insects from eating off your plate. Don't let these uninvited guests ruin your next picnic or patio ...
Honey ants are unique in using their own bodies as living storage, used later by their fellow ants when food is otherwise scarce. When the liquid stored inside a honeypot ant is needed, the worker ants stroke the antennae of the honeypot ant, causing the honeypot ant to regurgitate the stored liquid from its crop. [4] [5]
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