Leaf Cutter Ant
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28/03/2023 Few things are as devastating as surveying your full garden one day only to wake up the following morning to find every leaf stripped from your crops with nothing but a trail of a few semi-circular fragments of your precious plants leading away from your garden. I am not sure there is any other...
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19/10/1994 ECHO was contacted with a vivid description of problems of leaf-cutter ants in Guyana. The farmers even tried building water filled moats around plants but the ants built leaf bridges and crossed right over. Jack bean and Sesame may help control leaf-cutter ants.
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19/01/1997 Ideas for controlling leaf-cutter ants.
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20/03/2000 A method to protect gardens from leaf cutter ants (Atta sp.) using sweet potatoes.
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Abstract, Insects, 2012 Fungus-growing ants gain access to nutrients stored in plant biomass through their association with a mutualistic fungus they grow for food. This 50 million-year-old obligate mutualism likely facilitated some of these species becoming dominant Neotropical herbivores that...
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Abstract, Biological Research, 2019 Background The leafcutter ant (Atta cephalotes) is associated with losses in the agricultural sector, due to its defoliating activity; for its control, biological, mechanical and chemical methods have been developed, the latter associated with adverse effects...
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The leafcutter ants truly highlight the process of evolution, the complexity of life beneath the forest floor and the benefits of eusociality. For more than 50 million years, these lineages of ants have been collecting and processing plant material to feed their subterraneous fungal farms. Today,...
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For the last 60 million years, fungus-growing ants have farmed fungi for food. In their cultivation of those fungi, they've successfully relied on bacteria-produced antimicrobial ingredients to protect their crops from other species of parasitic fungi. Now, researchers reporting in the journal...
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On the face of it, a leafcutter ant’s nest is a perfect picture of harmonious relationships. Worker ants go out to forage for fresh leaf material that they use togrow a fungus(Leucoagaricus gonglyophorous). In return for a mulchy compost of fresh leaves, the fungus breaks down the plant material...
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Abstract,Molecular Ecology, 2017 Leafcutter ants propagate co-evolving fungi for food. The nearly 50 species of leafcutter ants (Atta, Acromyrmex) range from Argentina to the USA, with the greatest species diversity in southern South America. We elucidate the biogeography of fungi cultivated by...
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On the face of it, a leafcutter ant’s nest is a perfect picture of harmonious relationships. Worker ants go out to forage for fresh leaf material that they use togrow a fungus(Leucoagaricus gonglyophorous). In return for a mulchy compost of fresh leaves, the fungus breaks down the plant material...
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Abstract Leaf‐cutter ants are a prominent feature in Neotropical ecosystems, but a comprehensive assessment of their effects on ecosystem functions is lacking. We reviewed the literature and used our own recent findings to identify knowledge gaps and develop a framework to quantify the effects of...
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Leaf cutting ants live in large colonies of up to two million. The name comes from their habit of cutting leaves and other plant parts from a variety of plants. In Texas, these ants damage weeds, grasses, plum and peach trees, blackberry bushes and many other fruit, nut and ornamental plants as...
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Scientists have spent decades finding ways to efficiently and affordably degrade plant materials so that they can be converted into useful bioproducts that benefit everyday life. Bio-based fuels, detergents, nutritional supplements, and even plastics are the result of this work. And while...