It turned out that one type of ant that lived in the tropics "coats" coffee trees "grown" for 3 million years ago

It has been revealed that one species of ants in Fiji in Oceania cultivates certain kinds of plants. Cultivated is a farmer of coffee included in the genus Squamellaria. Ant has the habit of carrying plant seeds on trees, giving fertilizer and raising them, and further making nests in the fruits that are produced , I know that there is a strong symbiotic relationship that they can not survive without mutual existence.

Ant species cultivates coffee for accommodation | Science | DW.COM | 22.11.2016
http://www.dw.com/en/ant-species-cultivates-coffee-for-accommodation/a-36477533

In Fiji, ants have learned to grow plants to house their massive colonies | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/11/on-fiji-ants-have-learned-to-grow-plants-to-house-their-massive-colonies/

This research result was announced,Ludwig Maximilians University MunichThe research team of Susanne Renner, a botanist and Mr. Guillaume Chomicki who is a doctoral student at the school. They had grasped that ants of a particular species had a habit of forming nests in fruits, but found that there was a very complex ecology by actually visiting Fiji and observing it doing.

According to the survey, ants called "Philidris nagasau" collect and carry the seeds of Squamellaria plants and carry them to cracks etc. in the trunk of another tree and plant them. Although seeds planted will germinate and grow, seeds germinated with tree trunks can not suck up nutrition from the ground. Therefore, Ali gives the seed "necessary fertilizer" for growth by excretion at the place where seed is planted.

As the plant grows and the fruits come up, clumps like bumps will be visible on the branches of the tree that are parasitic. Ants that have grown plants will then make their nests in this fruit.


When breaking the fruit, a very intricate nest is made in it. There are bright parts and dark parts in the nest, but eggs are born in the bright part, excretion is being made in the dark part.


Ali's house will expand further as fruit grows bigger. And as seeds are formed, ants bring new seeds to another part of the parasite and start new cultivation.

The interesting thing about this ant's behavior is where Ali keeps giving fertilizer despite being unable to produce anything from 2 to 3 months after planting the seed. This means that ants are wearing know-how to "cultivate" trees like humans, and in fact it is clear that ants are cultivating six kinds of trees in the same way It is.

So far, so-calledAnt plantsPlants existed that have ants living on trees as in, but the relationship between ants and plants revealed this time is characterized by the fact that they can not survive without mutual existence. Without ants it is impossible for plants to grow, with plants there is no place for ants to live, he says that a very strong symbiotic relationship is established between the two. Furthermore, as a result of investigating both races, it has been clarified that the two lived together for about 3 million years ago.


The paper by the research team is posted on the following site.

Obligate plant farming by a specialized ant: Nature Plants
http://www.nature.com/articles/nplants2016181