Fact of the week: Seed (Metaphorically)

I mentioned before that leafcutter ants do not eat leaves. They eat the fungus that grow on those leaves.

Except that I did not consider where the fungi came from. Apparently, the ants do not pick any fungi and start their mushroom farm. The queen actually nicks a pellet of the fungi from her old hive and kept it in her in her mouth pouch. So after flying, mating and making her new nest, she spits out the pellet and starts her own farm. Oh and until her eggs hatch, she has to collect plant material to feed the fungi. 

To be fair, most queen ants fast usually fast until their workers start scavenging. That is no food after her maiden flight, mating and home hunting. Then she lays her eggs. Still no food while waiting for the eggs to hatch. And then she has to feed the larvae.

The truth is the fungi is so unique that it does not grow anywhere else in the world except in the hives of the leafcutter ants.