What makes that ant move that rubber tree plant

I think ants are pretty cool. I know I’ve mentioned several times before.  But they are incredible little beings.  They get a bad rap, as most insects do.

But these creatures are smart, hard workers with a lot to offer the world.  Besides that? We better pay attention to them. Estimates suggest that there are around 20 quadrillion ants in the world, which is roughly 2 million ants for every human on the planet. I’ll remind you. The current global human population is approximately 8 billion people.

And. The total weight of all ants on Earth is thought to be around 70 million to 100 million tons, while the total human biomass is estimated to be about 60 million tons.

But their numbers aren’t what I want to talk about.  You see, those ants mastered agriculture millions of years before humans.
We humans think of agriculture as a uniquely human achievement.  But that is not the case.  A new study has revealed that ants have been farming their own food for eons.

Here’s what those scientists found.  Around 66 million years ago, an asteroid struck Earth and caused a global mass extinction.  This mass extinction wiped out the dinosaurs and many other things.

But, it also created conditions that allowed fungi to thrive. So those ants took advantage of all that decaying plant matter on the ground. 

Maybe the neatest thing is this:  They didn’t keep doing the same thing over and over again.  Over time, the ants began refining their agricultural practices.  They kept learning and doing.  And they developed advanced methods. 

This all emerged over time, about 27 million years ago.  And their farming techniques were very similar to the domestication of crops by humans.

How do those scientists know all of this?  Well, they analyzed genetic data from hundreds of ant and fungi species to create detailed evolutionary trees. These genetic timelines provided insights into when ants first began farming fungi and how their agricultural techniques evolved over millions of years. (It is all documented in Scientific Journal.)

And they still do it to this very day.  Fungi-farming ants are particularly diverse in the Americas, with nearly 250 different species engaged in this practice.  Not only that, but different kinds of ants have different farming strategies.

Now, I know I’ve talked about the “leafcutter” ants before. I watch them for a long, long time every time I go to the Cincinnati Zoo.  Well, they are among the most advanced.  They collect fresh vegetation to feed their fungi. In return, the fungi produce food for the ants. This system supports large, complex colonies of millions of ants.

I mean. They really have it going on.  It is so complex what they do.  The ants tend to their fungal gardens like crops in a field. They weed out unwanted bacteria and fungi and bring healthy bacteria to new places where they can flourish.

Ant Farmers.
Their skills are amazing.

So.  The next time you see a few ants, be kind.
They could be Accountant Ants.
Or Doctor Ants.
Or Waitress Ants.
Or Farmer Ants.

You just never know what’s in the world out there.  All the things we do not know. All the things we cannot see.

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“Farming is a profession of hope.” — Brian Brett

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“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” — Audrey Hepburn

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“The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.” — Will Rogers

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