"Two Common Ponerine Ants of Possible Economic Significance”
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@JeanieBurrell @futurebird Leafcutters are *entirely* dependent on that fungus. All those leaves they famously cut aren't for them - they're for the fungus farms. Their digestive system is extremely specialized and they can't eat anything else.
When young queens fly from the hive, they first visit the fungus farms to bring a wad of fungus with them. They even "feed" it with their own eggs until the first broods of workers can start bringing leaves!
@datarama @futurebird Oh! Like keeping a bit of my sourdough starter to make more sourdough starter. So that specific fungi is also dispersed by them?
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@datarama @futurebird Oh! Like keeping a bit of my sourdough starter to make more sourdough starter. So that specific fungi is also dispersed by them?
@JeanieBurrell @futurebird Yes. It doesn't live anywhere but their hives; it can't survive on its own in the wild.
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@JeanieBurrell @futurebird Yes. It doesn't live anywhere but their hives; it can't survive on its own in the wild.
@futurebird can correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC there are also some aphid species that have become ant livestock and are now completely incapable of surviving without being tended and protected by ants.
(We apes were latecomers to the domestication and agriculture game, really.
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@futurebird can correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC there are also some aphid species that have become ant livestock and are now completely incapable of surviving without being tended and protected by ants.
(We apes were latecomers to the domestication and agriculture game, really.
)@datarama @futurebird I try to grow roses. Aphids are my nightmare. No chemicals, though. Ladybugs are best bugs!
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@datarama @futurebird I try to grow roses. Aphids are my nightmare. No chemicals, though. Ladybugs are best bugs!
@JeanieBurrell @futurebird I live on the fourth floor and have a little collection if indoor bonsai - and one of them *still* got killed by an aphid infestation. How those things managed to get up here I have no idea.
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@JeanieBurrell @futurebird I live on the fourth floor and have a little collection if indoor bonsai - and one of them *still* got killed by an aphid infestation. How those things managed to get up here I have no idea.
@JeanieBurrell @futurebird (I had a *really* nice Chinese sweet plum tree which got killed by aphids. The other plant that got hit was my pre-bonsai baobab, and the only thing that ended up defeating the little critters was chopping off all the leaf-bearing branches entirely and letting it backbud new ones.)
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@JeanieBurrell @futurebird (I had a *really* nice Chinese sweet plum tree which got killed by aphids. The other plant that got hit was my pre-bonsai baobab, and the only thing that ended up defeating the little critters was chopping off all the leaf-bearing branches entirely and letting it backbud new ones.)
I use a lint roller to remove aphids.
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@JeanieBurrell @futurebird Leafcutters are *entirely* dependent on that fungus. All those leaves they famously cut aren't for them - they're for the fungus farms. Their digestive system is extremely specialized and they can't eat anything else.
When young queens fly from the hive, they first visit the fungus farms to bring a wad of fungus with them. They even "feed" it with their own eggs until the first broods of workers can start bringing leaves!
@datarama @JeanieBurrell @futurebird I've heard leafcutter ant experts refer to the fungus as "an external digestive system".
Also, I believe the fungi have speciated with their ants (as have the parasitic fungi that prey on the farms, as have the waxy bacteria that grow on the ants and provide antibiotics to control the parasites). It's an amazing coevolving little ecosystem
