Some ants' nests were placed under a bell jar and supplied with
leaves; they made no use of them and presently died. If they were
supplied with a piece of "garden," they rebuilt it and covered it so
far as they could. It was seen to shrink from day to day, the ants
bringing out the old pieces and adding them to the wall; finally it
was exhausted and the ants died. Others were starved for five days,
and then supplied with a bit of garden; they at once began to eat the
Kohl-rabi clumps. Finally, by supplying the ants with bits of garden,
a damp sandy floor, and fresh leaves, they were induced to build in
captivity. The dish in which they worked was covered by a glass lid,
and when this was covered with a dark cloth or otherwise kept dark,
the ants built under it without covering the garden. In this way the
whole process was observed. An ant bringing in a piece of leaf
proceeds to cut it into halves, repeating the process till it has got
a very small piece left, which it holds between its fore feet and
turns round, crushing it in its jaws until the whole is reduced to a
round ball of pulp about .25 mm. thick. This it then takes and adds to
the garden. So well is the kneading performed that no single cell
remains uninjured, and it was observed that the hyphae of the fungus
grew through and round one of these particles within a few hours. Belt
supposed that this process was performed by the small workers
above-mentioned, but it is not so, as we have just seen. The small
workers perform the function of weeding the garden, and this is so
well done that a portion of it removed and grown in a nutrient
solution gives a perfectly pure culture, not even containing bacteria!
In the course of these investigations it was found that somewhat
similar fungus gardens occur in the nests of the hairy ant,
_Apterostigma_, but the fungus appeared to belong to a different
genus, and the hairy ants, who live in decaying wood and have small
gardens built of bits of wood-fibre, beetle-dung, etc., have not
succeeded in cultivating and selecting Kohl-rabi to the same high
degree. An allied genus of ants, _Cyphomyrmex_, were also found to be
fungus-growers.
This elaborate study, which is illustrated by beautiful plates and
photographs of the mushroom gardens, constitutes, as Mr. Willis (whose
summary has here been followed) remarks, one of the most fascinating
contributions to our knowledge of mycology and of animal industries
which have been made for many years.
INDEX.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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