What insects garden in the dark?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
August 8, 2001
Gardens Alive's Natural Gardening Library—>Click here.
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading—>Click here.
In Nicaragua and Belize, they are called the Wiwi Laca. They are the scourge of the surface gardener for these are subterranean gardeners. They grow that which lives in the dark. Ants in the genera, Atta and Acromyrmex, use fresh leaves and flowers to nourish their garden of fungi. And some of the species of fungi can no longer survive without the ant gardeners.
South America was an isolated continent from the late Mesozoic to about 4 million years ago. Sometime during South America's isolation, a group of ants started culturing and eating fungi. These pioneer ants probably gave rise to the 190 species in 12 genera of fungus cultivating ants alive today. Members of these specialized ants range from the pine barrens of New Jersey to the deserts of Argentina. In the tropics, some species like the Wiwi Laca can strip a garden of its leaves overnight.
The cultivation of fungi for food did not evolve in ants anywhere else in the world. There are colonial insects in the Old World that grow fungi for food, but these are termites and wood boring beetles and not related to ants.
For more information about ants, the premier book is The Ants (1990) by Bert Holldobler and Edward O. Wilson.—>The Ants, Click here.
To learn more about ants, click the link:
http://www.myrmecology.org/
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What is surprising about red imported fire ants? Renfield's Garden - March 5, 2003
How do fire ants lose their heads? Renfield's Garden - March 12, 2003
Why would ants be caterpillar-herders? Renfield's Garden - December 19, 2001
Bull's-horn Acacia (Acacia sphaerocephala) Plant of the Week - February 4, 2002
Are there ghosts haunting your house? Renfield's Garden - October 29, 2003
How does the yellow prairie violet use ants? Renfield's Garden - July 16, 2003
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