Ants know who's who...

Pseudomyrmex triplarinus, a ant species found in the Peruvian rainforest, lives in the tree species Triplaris americana. The ants tunnel into the tree and use it as a "shelter and sustenance." In return for providing the ants these comforts, the ants will protect the tree from invaders, including other plants. These ants use chemical indicators to tell the difference between the host trees there living in and any competitor plants nearby. The ants use the surface wax on each tree to distinguish between the plants. Once a competitor plant is recognized, it is marked with a chemical to tell others to prune the competing plant. By pruning a plant that may compete for resources from the host plant, the ants guarantee the host plants survival. This symbiotic relationship with the trees was studies by scientists at Colorado State University. Two different experiments were done to "demonstrate how ants inhabiting the branches of T. americana trees recognize species-specific chemical signals embedded in the leaf surface." The scientists took a single T. americanan host tress and surrounded it by different species of trees. Over five weeks, researchers observed the ant behavior in pruning the trees. Also, they took leaves from several different species of trees (but also including the leafs of the T. americana), and attached them to the host tree with pins. Overall, the ants removed more leafs (pruned) that did not belong to the T. americana host tree. Researchers also wanted to know how specific the ants were in pruning non host trees. The took filter paper coated with the T. americana tree wax extract and its closely related species T. poeppigiana. Over observation, the ants attacked vigorously with those filters coated with the T. americana wax extracts. This shows that the ants are highly specific in the host tree and not even closely related trees can a pass. However, it also verified that the chemical that tells the ants which tree is which is located in the wax substance coating the leafs.

Source: "Rainforest Species Use Chemicals to Identify Which Plants to Prune." Red Orbit. RedOrbit. 13 May. 2011. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Image Source: Nijenhuis, Peter. "Heavy Load." Flickr. June, 2006. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Zombie Fungus.

People around the world are always interested in the mystery of the rainforest, and its great biodiversity. However, scientists have discovered four new species of fungi in the rainforest's of Brazil. These are not just any kind of fungi. These fungi attack specific species of insects, here we will look at ants. At the University of Pennsylvania, Assistant Professor David Hughes found that the species Ophiocordyceps unliateralis was found to live on four different species of carpenter ants. Once infected, the ants will show signs of infection is about one week. These signs are related to a "zombie effect." The ants are disoriented, confused, and there minds are slowly being taken over. The infection target the ants brain and forces the ant to go up. The research involved found that most ants will climb and attach to a plant at about 9.8 inches above the ground. The humidity was found to be around 95 percent. These are the ideal environmental conditions for the fungus to grow and spread. The infection uses the height and wind to help carry the fungus to other hosts. It is interesting how the fungus uses the ant to find the ideal spot that the fungus can grow. After reaching the idea spot, the ant will attach with its mandibles to the plant, and die. The fungus will begin to grow right out of the head of the ant. It can take about three weeks for the fungus to completely grow. After reaching its maximum growth, spores will open and release tiny fragments of the infection. Any ant(s) found in the vicinity are at great risk of infection. This is a great population control. If any ant species becomes to large or to powerful, it is at greater risk of becoming infected with the fungus, thus lowering its population. The fungus itself can kill entire colonies of ants, making it a very effective population control. Any ideas of this being a good pest control? The article states it would most likely not be ideal since the fungi are only effective to particular species and need perfect environmental conditions to grow.


Text source: Osborne, Darren. "Deadly Fungus Turns Ants into Zombies." Discovery News. Discovery Communications. 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Video Source: FreeScienceLectures. "Cordyceps Fungus." Youtube. 3 May. 2007. Web. 13 May. 2011.

Ants millions of years ago...revealed.

Until recently, the history of ants was unknown for the most part. Even though these creatures are found in almost every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth, little is known about there past. Research done at Harvard University by biologist Corrie Moreau and Naomi Pierce has shed light on the past of these brilliant organisms. Originating 140-168 million years ago, ants are now believed to have diversified only about 100 million years ago. This happens to be around the same time that plants began to flower. The research involved took the DNA sequence of six genes from around 139 different ant genera. Using 139 different genera's means the used almost every subfamily of ants around the world, making there results more accurate than a smaller sample would be. Additionally, using the "molecular clock," the scientist took 43 different fossils from the ant family tree (different ant species throughout time), and used the fossil data collected to better understand key events in the evolution of ants themselves. The biggest event is when flowering plants began to take off and diversify. This allowed the ants to diversify because they used the herbivorous insects as a food source. These insects evolved with the flowering plants, diversifying the insect world, thus giving ants a much greater food source. It is important to note that the flowering plants most likely allowed multiple organisms to diversify. Still, it was found the subfamily Leptanillinae (the species that we know very little about) as being the most ancient. This would make sense that since they are the most ancient there would be much less known about them. Humans are one step closer to understanding the organism that rules most of the terrestrial environment today. You must understand the history and past of an organism to better understand it today.

Text source: "Ancient Ants Arose 140-168 Million Years Ago; Insects Needed Flowering Plants To Flourish." ScienceDaily. The National Science Foundation. 7 Apr. 2006. Web. 13 May 2011.

Picture source: El-Showk, Sedeer. Sisyphean ant. 22 Aug. 2009. Picture. Flickr. Web. 13 May. 2011.