Litinsects

© Gail Sumway  Litinsects #39: Leaf cutter ants You’ve likely seen them in nature documentaries; countless individuals on a trail with abstract leaf cut-outs on their backs... these are LEAF CUTTER ANTS. They can carry impressively heavy loads on their backs, up to 20 times their body weight. But have you ever wondered what they do with all these leaves that they carry back to their nests? You might assume that they eat them but they don’t! What they actually do is way cooler than that. Leaf cutter ants participate in a MUTUALISTIC SYMBIOSIS with fungi, a close relationship that benefits all parties. Ants cultivate underground fungus gardens in their nests and it’s actually the fungi that eat the leaves as they decompose. The fungus in turn serves as food for the ant colony! Because the fungus needs the ants to stay alive, it is a mutually beneficial relationship. Ants actively groom the gardens by removing parasites and even secrete anti-microbial substances to prevent growth ...

Bonus points if you can spot the beetle larvae on the leaf! Litinsects #27: Ants Think about this for a second...there are 10 QUADRILLION ants 🐜 on the planet. This number is pretty much unfathomable... that’s around 1.3 million ants for every human alive on the planet! It is estimated that ants make up around 15-25% of terrestrial animal biomass. That means if you put all the animals living on land onto a giant scale and added up the weight, ants would account for about a fifth of that weight. JUST THE ANTS!!! Here are some fun facts about ants in general, but stay tuned for some later posts that go into some more really cool ant topics. Ants are some of the strongest animals in relation to their size. Depending on the species, an individual can carry from 10-100 times its own body weight and working together they can carry even heavier objects! Despite its name, ANTARCTICA is the only continent not home to ants The most painful insect sting...