These Apterostigma ants are really strange girls.
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These Apterostigma ants are really strange girls. I mean REALLY strange. They live under leaves rather like weaver ants, but they build a nest of fungi ... like leaf cutter ants... but they don't cut leaves-- they hide their nests with bits of bark.
No other ants are like this. Amazing.
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F myrmepropagandist shared this topic
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These Apterostigma ants are really strange girls. I mean REALLY strange. They live under leaves rather like weaver ants, but they build a nest of fungi ... like leaf cutter ants... but they don't cut leaves-- they hide their nests with bits of bark.
No other ants are like this. Amazing.
These ants move very slowly, gently tending their little farms. Just lanky hairy girls trying to make it in the jungle. You gotta love them. There are a nice collection of these ants on iNaturalist.
Some of them do seem to use leaves in their fungus, others do not. They are also on the larger size, towering over smaller ants in many photos.
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These Apterostigma ants are really strange girls. I mean REALLY strange. They live under leaves rather like weaver ants, but they build a nest of fungi ... like leaf cutter ants... but they don't cut leaves-- they hide their nests with bits of bark.
No other ants are like this. Amazing.
@futurebird hehe electropilosum- referring to their hairs standing on end?
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These ants move very slowly, gently tending their little farms. Just lanky hairy girls trying to make it in the jungle. You gotta love them. There are a nice collection of these ants on iNaturalist.
Some of them do seem to use leaves in their fungus, others do not. They are also on the larger size, towering over smaller ants in many photos.
Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
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Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
@futurebird I want to live in a breadbowl
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@futurebird I want to live in a breadbowl
I wonder why they need to be so fuzzy? Could it be connected to their mode of living...?
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I wonder why they need to be so fuzzy? Could it be connected to their mode of living...?
@futurebird can an ant comprehend "comfy"
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@futurebird can an ant comprehend "comfy"
I think so. They have a certain way they put their antennae when they are sleeping and a different for dozing.
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Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
@futurebird That gives new meaning to "chewing on the walls."
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@futurebird That gives new meaning to "chewing on the walls."
Maybe they are all amazing actors... though they would chew up the scenery!
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Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
@futurebird do You know the name of this species? It's a special kind of Symbiosis?
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@futurebird do You know the name of this species? It's a special kind of Symbiosis?
They aren't all the same species the genus is Apterostigma
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Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
@futurebird I want to know what strange ants think when they meet each other at different points on the tech tree. "Y'all are still digging in the ground to build homes? My God."
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@futurebird I want to live in a breadbowl
@mcc @futurebird Unfortunately, all housing units in Habitable Cheesecake City have been sold.
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Their nests are made of the fungi they eat and unlike anything else I know that ants might build.
Does any other creature make a house out of edible fungi? What if you could just eat things from the walls of your house? These ants are so advanced. I thought paper making ants were wild!
#LichenSubscribe #mosstodon #ants #antnest
Look at her rugulos* integument!
*I've been excited to use this word for a whole year. Now is my chance!
(Photo by Philipp Hoenle for inaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/250817-Apterostigma/browse_photos )
