Farming Ants: Leafcutters and Fungus Growers
Hundreds of ant species live as farmers in the warmer regions of North and South America. These insects- a single evolutionary radiation- cultivate an edible fungus fed with bits of vegetative debris, or in the case of the leafcutter ants, with live vegetation.
Sericomyrmex amabilis. An ant worker tends to brood in the fungus garden. Note how the eggs and larvae are embedded within the fluffy white hyphae of the fungus.
Parque Soberania, Panama; Laboratory colony at the University of Texas
Sericomyrmex amabilis. An ant worker tends to brood in the fungus garden. Note how the eggs and larvae are embedded within the fluffy white hyphae of the fungus.
Parque Soberania, Panama; Laboratory colony at the University of Texas
Canon EOS 20D |
Original size: 3164x2148 |
Current: 800x543 |
