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Dacetini
Fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) comprise all the known fungus-growing ant species participating in ant–fungus mutualism. They are known for cutting grasses and leaves, carrying them to their colonies' nests, and using them to grow fungus on which they later feed. Their farming habits typically have large effects on their surrounding ecosystem. Many species farm large areas surrounding their colonies and leave walking trails that compress the soil, which can no longer grow plants. Attine colonies commonly have millions of individuals, though some species only house a few hundred. They are the sister group to the subtribe Dacetina. Leafcutter ants, including '' Atta'' and '' Acromyrmex'', make up two of the genera. Their cultivars mostly come from the fungal tribe Leucocoprineae of family Agaricaceae. Attine gut microbiota is often not diverse due to their primarily monotonous diets, leaving them at a higher risk than other beings for certain illnesses. They are especially ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atta Mexicana
''Atta mexicana'' is a species of leaf-cutter ant, a New world#Usage and definition, New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus ''Atta (ant), Atta''. This species is from one of the two genera of advanced Fungus-growing ants, attines (fungus-growing ants) within the tribe Attini. Description The queen is approximately 30 mm long, and dark brown. Workers are dark brown, with short spines. The much larger soldiers grow up to 18 mm, and are even more armored with short spines. The ants cut leaves and grow a Basidiomycota, basidiomycete fungus called Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, ''Leucoagaricus gongylophoru''s (Agaricaceae) with them. Oleic acid is one of their undertaking triggers. Distribution ''A. mexicana'' is found in Mexico (where is commonly called hormiga chicatana, hormiga podadora de hoja/''desert ant'' and mochomo), and crosses into Arizona, United States. This species is highly adaptive, and thrives in such urban areas as Puerto Vallarta. Densiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argentina
Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the List of countries and dependencies by area, eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Drake Passage to the south. Argentina is a Federation, federal state subdivided into twenty-three Provinces of Argentina, provinces, and one autonomous city, which is the federal capital and List of cities in Argentina by population, largest city of the nation, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a Federalism, federal system. Argentina claims sovereignty ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Actinomycetota
The Actinomycetota (or Actinobacteria) are a diverse phylum of Gram-positive bacteria with high GC content. They can be terrestrial or aquatic. They are of great importance to land flora because of their contributions to soil systems. In soil they help to decompose the organic matter of dead organisms so the molecules can be taken up anew by plants. While this role is also played by fungi, Actinomycetota are much smaller and likely do not occupy the same ecological niche. In this role the colonies often grow extensive mycelia, as fungi do, and the name of an important order of the phylum, Actinomycetales (the actinomycetes), reflects that they were long believed to be fungi. Some soil actinomycetota (such as '' Frankia'') live symbiotically with the plants whose roots pervade the soil, fixing nitrogen for the plants in exchange for access to some of the plant's saccharides. Other species, such as many members of the genus ''Mycobacterium'', are important pathogens. Beyond th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Escovopsis
''Escovopsis'' is a genus of seven formally acknowledged parasitic microfungus species that rely on other fungi to be their hosts. This genus formally circumscribed with a single identified species in 1990; in 2013 three other species were added. In an early 2015 published study, scientists collected five species of ''Escovopsis'' from both genera of fungus-growing ants, '' Atta'' and '' Acromyrmex'', four of which came from ant colonies in Brazil and the fifth of which came from Trinidad. These ''Escovopsis'' species included '' E. moelleri'', '' E. microspora'', '' E. weberi'', '' E. lentecrescens'', and '' E. aspergilloides''. The research revealed another ''Escovopsis'' species ('' E. trichodermoides'') isolated and derived from the lower attine ant, '' Mycocepurus goeldii''. It was determined to be a species independent of the other five species because of its complex branch system and varying conidiophores, which lack typical swelling. A se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reproductively Isolated
The mechanisms of reproductive isolation are a collection of evolutionary mechanisms, behaviors and physiological processes critical for speciation. They prevent members of different species from producing offspring, or ensure that any offspring are sterile. These barriers maintain the integrity of a species by reducing gene flow between related species.Strickberger, M. 1978. ''Genética''. Omega, Barcelona, España, p.: 874–879. .Futuyma, D. 1998. ''Evolutionary biology'' (3ª edición). Sinauer, Sunderland. The mechanisms of reproductive isolation have been classified in a number of ways. Zoologist Ernst Mayr classified the mechanisms of reproductive isolation in two broad categories: pre-zygotic for those that act before fertilization (or before mating in the case of animals) and post-zygotic for those that act after it.Mayr, E. 1963. ''Animal species and evolution''. Harvard University Press, Cambridge. The mechanisms are genetically controlled and can appear in species w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Herbivore
A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat non-vascular autotrophs such as mosses, algae and lichens, but do not include those feeding on decomposed plant matters (i.e. detritivores) or macrofungi (i.e. fungivores). As a result of their plant-based diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouth structures ( jaws or mouthparts) well adapted to mechanically break down plant materials, and their digestive systems have special enzymes (e.g. amylase and cellulase) to digest polysaccharides. Grazing herbivores such as horses and cattles have wide flat- crowned teeth that are better adapted for grinding grass, tree bark and other tougher lignin-containing materials, and many of them evolved rumination or cecotropic behaviors to better extract nutrients from plants. A larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gongylidia
Gongylidia (singular gongylidium) are hyphal swellings of fungus cultivated by higher-attine genera of fungus-growing ants. This fungus no longer exists naturally outside the ant colonies. Developing larvae feed on the gongylidia and distributed throughout the colony to feed workers, soldiers, and the queen. They are ellipsoid, about 30–50 micrometres in diameter, rich in lipids and carbohydrates derived from the leaves, and are produced in clusters (called staphylae). See also * Pearl body * Leucoagaricus gongylophorus References Fungal morphology and anatomy Myrmecology {{Ant-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trachymyrmex Cornetzi
''Trachymyrmex '' is a genus of fungus-growing ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. The genus is mainly tropical in distribution, with most species being found in Central and South America. The queens of the species appear to mate with only one male on their nuptial flight Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant, termite, and some bee species. It is also observed in some fly species, such as '' Rhamphomyia longicauda''. During the flight, virgin queens mate with males and then land .... Species A number of species were moved from ''Trachymyrmex'' based on molecular phylogeny by Solomon ''et al.'' 2019. Of the species formerly included, nine were retained in ''Trachymyrmex'', while 31 of the species were moved to the new genus '' Mycetomoellerius'', and an additional nine moved to '' Paratrachymyrmex''. ''Trachymyrmex'' species *'' T. arizonensis'' *'' T. carinatus'' *'' T. desertorum'' *'' T. nogalensis'' *'' T. pakawa'' *'' T. pomonae'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fungivore
Fungivory or mycophagy is the process of organisms consuming fungi. Many different organisms have been recorded to gain their energy from consuming fungi, including birds, mammals, insects, plants, amoebas, gastropods, nematodes, bacteria and other fungi. Some of these, which only eat fungi, are called fungivores whereas others eat fungi as only part of their diet, being omnivores. Animals Mammals Many mammals eat fungi, but only a few feed exclusively on fungi; most are opportunistic feeders and fungi only make up part of their diet. At least 22 species of primate, including humans, bonobos, colobines, gorillas, lemurs, macaques, mangabeys, marmosets and vervet monkeys are known to feed on fungi. Most of these species spend less than 5% of the time they spend feeding eating fungi, and fungi therefore form only a small part of their diet. Some species spend longer foraging for fungi, and fungi account for a greater part of their diet; buffy-tufted marmosets spend up to 12% of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Insect Predators
A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were amphibians. When they evolved 400 million years ago, the first amphibians were piscivores, with numerous sharp conical teeth, much like a modern crocodile. The same tooth arrangement is however also suited for eating animals with exoskeletons, thus the ability to eat insects can stem from piscivory. At one time, insectivorous mammals were scientifically classified in an order called Insectivora. This order is now abandoned, as not all insectivorous mammals are closely related. Most of the Insectivora taxa have been reclassified; those that have not yet been reclassified and found to be truly related to each other remain in the order Eulipotyphla. Although individually small, insects exist in enormous numbers. Insects make up a ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domesticate
Domestication is a multi-generational mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a steady supply of resources, such as meat, milk, or labor. The process is gradual and geographically diffuse, based on trial and error. Domestication affected genes for behavior in animals, making them less aggressive. In plants, domestication affected genes for morphology, such as increasing seed size and stopping the shattering of cereal seedheads. Such changes both make domesticated organisms easier to handle and reduce their ability to survive in the wild. The first animal to be domesticated by humans was the dog, as a commensal, at least 15,000 years ago. Other animals, including goats, sheep, and cows, were domesticated around 11,000 years ago. Among birds, the chicken was first domesticated in East Asia, seemingly for cockfighting, some 7,000 years ago ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropical rainforests or temperate rainforests, but other types have been described. Estimates vary from 40% to 75% of all biotic community, biotic species being Indigenous (ecology), indigenous to the rainforests. There may be many millions of species of plants, insects and microorganisms still undiscovered in tropical rainforests. Tropical rainforests have been called the "jewels of the Earth" and the "medicine chest (idiom), world's largest pharmacy", because over one quarter of natural medicines have been discovered there. Rainforests as well as endemic rainforest species are rapidly disappearing due to #Deforestation, deforestation, the resulting habitat loss and air pollution, pollution of the atmosphere. Definition Rainforests are cha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
