Ph.D. student Juju Dessert will explore the fascinating world of leafcutter ants. These ants aren’t eating the leaves they carry—they use plant matter to cultivate a special fungus in their ...

In warm regions of the Americas, leafcutter ants farm the fungus that they eat, gathering bits of greenery to feed it. An entire ocean away, one species of ant in Africa uses a very similar fungus ...

For centuries we have believed that humans were unique in the ability to farm and cultivate food. However, it turns out that ants have been growing their own food well before humans ever planted a ...

When humans began farming crops thousands of years ago, agriculture had already been around for millions of years. In fact, several animal lineages have been growing their own food since long before ...

Scientists developed a new method to map exactly how a fungus works with leafcutter ants in a complex microbial community to degrade plant material at the molecular level. The team's insights are ...

Leafcutter ants of the American tropics exemplify animals that exhibit super-organism status, advanced social organization and symbiosis. As you walk through the jungle you become aware of these ...

Celebrate Thanksgiving with some of the animal kingdom’s greatest cooks, including marshmallow-roasting apes and salt-sprinkling monkeys Jack Tamisiea In the tropical forests of Central and South ...

The Butterfly Pavilion welcomed a new species of critter this month, and it’s already making itself at home. The new leafcutter ant exhibit showcases the lives of these invertebrates, who are known ...

Postponed: New Date for this Talk Coming Soon! Ph.D. student Juju Dessert will explore the fascinating world of leafcutter ants. These ants aren’t eating the leaves they carry—they use plant matter to ...

Leafcutter ants of the American tropics exemplify animals that exhibit superorganism status, advanced social organization and symbiosis. As you walk through the jungle you become aware of these ...