How Ants Take Care of Their Farms
Hundreds of ant species have been farming for tens of millions of years. Hosted by: Hank Green ---------- Dooblydoo thanks go to the following Patreon supporters -- we couldn't make SciShow...
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[Intro] When humans first domesticated plants about 12,000 years ago, gotta say, it was a pretty big deal. But it was not a first! Hundreds of ant species -- along with some termites and beetles -- have been farming for tens of millions of years. Ants practice two forms of farming: some species farm fungi, and others farm aphids. In both cases, it’s a symbiotic relationship -- where two species have some kind of interaction -- but more specifically, it’s mutualism, where they both benefit from that relationship. The fungi and aphids can digest things the ants can’t, so they provide the ants with nutrients, and in exchange, the ants protect and feed them. There are more than 200 species of ants that farm fungi, and they’ve been doing it for up to 50...
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[Intro] When humans first domesticated plants about 12,000 years ago, gotta say, it was a pretty big deal. But it was not a first! Hundreds of ant species -- along with some termites and beetles -- have been farming for tens of millions of years. Ants practice two forms of farming: some species farm fungi, and others farm aphids. In both cases, it’s a symbiotic relationship -- where two species have some kind of interaction -- but more specifically, it’s mutualism, where they both benefit from that relationship. The fungi and aphids can digest things the ants can’t, so they provide the ants with nutrients, and in exchange, the ants protect and feed them. There are more than 200 species of ants that farm fungi, and they’ve been doing it for up to 50...
