How do leaf cutter ants rely on fungi

Mutualism is typically understood to describe the interaction between two organisms or species such that both experience a benefit that correlates to overall fitness or survivorship. It is one type of symbiosis , long-term interactions between species, which constitutes a broad category also including commensalism and parasitism. Though symbiotic relationships are typically understood as occurring between two species, increasing evidence suggests that "it is important to recognize and study symbioses as potential complex networks of interacting species, rather than binary relationships" 9.

In instance of mutualism explored here, the term symbiont is often used by scientists of the field to refer to the fungal cultivar, although both species are dependent on their shared interactions.

In relationships in which both species benefit, it can be misleading to lable one species as the initiator of the relationship or suggest that one is more dependent on the relationship for survival, and hence more interested in sustaining it.

This website explores the operation and development of ant-fungus mutualism, including its hypothesized co-evolution, through the lens of Niko Tinbergen's four questions of animal behavior, adapted from Suzy Renn's Animal Behavior Website :. Throughout the site, there are numerous opportunities to consider whether the ants are really farming the basidiomycete cultivars, or if the fungi are farming the ants.

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See how people have imagined life on Mars through history. See More. These ants carve out pieces of leaves and carry them back home Figure 1.

This ant-fungus symbiosis is thought to have originated in the Amazon basin, and since then has diversified into over species of ants that inhabit the Americas. The fungus is the only food source for the leaf-cutter ant. If the fungus fails to thrive, the colony can bid farewell to life, and without their cultivators, the fungus also does not survive. We cultivate things that are so highly modified that they exist in forms no longer found in the wild.

Figure 2. Leaf-cutter ants bring home leaves to feed their fungus gardens. A fungal garden begins when a young queen starts a new colony. As she leaves the original nest, the ant takes part of the fungus with her, carrying it in her mouth until choosing the new colony location to lay her eggs. For the first month, the queen stays underground tending to the garden while she waits for her workers to mature.

As with other social insects, the leaf-cutter ants divide the tasks needed to maintain the colony among them. When you look at worker ants from the same species, they often appear so different that they seem like they are two different species. Smaller workers care for the brood and farm the gardens while larger workers forage for leaves and maintain the nest.

This polymorphism stems from both environmentally and genetically controlled factors. The obligate co-dependence between the leaf-cutter ant and their fungal crop makes both species precariously susceptible to contamination events with other nearby microbes. How is this relationship maintained when decaying leaves make such a great feast for a multitude of microbes?