Sentences with phrase «fungi by ants»

The resulting evolutionary tree pointed to a common ancestor that dated back to the days of the first cultivation of fungi by ants, he reports in the 17 January issue of Science.

Not exact matches

The pyrazine - producing bacterium was discovered by chance when the scientists were looking for microorganisms capable of protecting ant colonies from parasitic fungi.

Meanwhile, «the ant cuticle is... remodeled into a protective case by reinforcing the weaker parts,» and the parts of the fungus inside the ant's body appear to differentiate into separate functions, write the researchers.

Evans suggests that a nerve toxin spurred on by the fungus is at least partly to blame, «judging from the uncoordinated movements and hyperactivity of the ants infected,» he says.

A specialized but global threat The ants best known for getting zombified by the Ophiocordyceps fungus are tree - dwelling carpenter ants found in Brazil and Thailand, but the fungus is thought to be broadly distributed in tropical areas around the globe.

By covering the original fungus and its stalk, this secondary fungus — or hyperparasite — effectively prevents the zombie - ant fungus from ejecting its spores.

After growing a stalk, the fungus casts spores to the ground below, where they can be picked up by other passing ants.

When Yao moved in, she was dismayed to find that Stamets» old farmhouse was infested with carpenter ants — attracted, ironically, by a white - rot fungus that was crumbling the floor joists.

By that stage, cells from the fungus have grown even more numerous in the ant's body.

According to the research by Andersen and her colleagues (published in May 2012 in PLoS ONE), the actual reproduction rate for each mature zombie - ant fungus organism is a little more than one new mature organism, thus allowing the species and local population to sustain itself as long as there are ants nearby to infect.

Zombie ants are only one of the fungi - insect relationships studied by a team of Penn State biologists in a newly compiled database of insect fungi interactions.

Living in large tightly knit communities within nests hollowed out in wood softened by moisture or fungi, these ants are fond of sweet fluids, and during the night they often scavenge for sugary juice around soda machines.

Sylvia Cremer and her group have previously shown that invasive garden ants (Lasius neglectus) care for colony members carrying pathogenic fungus spores by intensively grooming the contaminated individual's body, which reduces the risk of the fungus entering the body and infecting the ant.

The long symbiosis between attine ants and the fungi they cultivate is converted to a tripartite ecological arms race by the addition of a third party - a fungal parasite.

The ants could benefit the fungus they eat by dispersing their spores.

Naughty dog was inspired by the fungus that affects the Insect kingdom primarily ants.