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A popular leaf-cutter ant grows organic armor with biominerals – a shield-like power previously unknown to students of the insect world, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature Communications.
This previously unknown advantage makes leaf cutter ants virtually invincible against other rival ant species.
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Leaf cutter ants use biomineral armor to protect themselves
In nature, biomineral armor is typically found on crustaceans such as lobsters and other marine animals – for example, sea urchin spines possess calcium carbonate – but no one had ever seen it before in or on insects.
Researchers collided with this finding while examining the relationship between ant species that grow mushrooms Acromyrmex echinatior and antibiotic-producing bacteria that can protect their crops.
Until they noticed that the larger worker ants – called majors – had a “whitish granular coating” on the surface of the body, according to a study co-author named Cameron Currie – a bacteriology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Biomineralized exoskeletons also protect ants from disease
Lead author of the new study Hongjie Li “was fascinated by the crystals” and found a biomineral layer that grows as the ants mature, Currie said. This biomineral layer makes ants’ exoskeletons hard and covers their entire body.
Researchers still don’t know why leaf cutter ants have this strange armor, Currie said AFP. But the team thinks it could be related to soldier ants from another mushroom-growing ant species, called Atta cephalotes.
These two ants often fight in territorial “ant wars”, which the researchers simulated in laboratory deathmatches. “When the Acro majors are without their armor, the Atta soldiers quickly cut them to pieces, literally,” Currie said. “When they have their armor, they actually go from losing battles almost always to winning almost always.”
The study authors found how the benefits of a biomineralized exoskeleton add substantial advantage in ant wars. Their studies also show that the shield helps isolate ants from infection via a fungus called Metarhizium anisopliae – a pathogenic organism – which would otherwise spread rapidly through dense ant colonies.
Biomineral armor may be more prevalent in nature
Ants are thought to have started growing mushrooms about 60 million years ago in South America. About 20 billion years ago, this process became industrial when ants like leaf cutting Acromyrmex echinatior is Atta cephalotes they started living in massive and complex colonies and gathering fresh vegetation with which they grow their precious mushroom.
Hundreds of thousands of large and small worker ants live in leaf cutter colonies. “The big ones take care of cutting and transporting leaves, as well as participating in wars and battles with other ants,” Currie noted. “The little ones are gardening.”
In light of the sheer volume of this biomineral armor on leaf cutter ants, researchers think it may be more common in the insect world than previously thought. While we probably can’t adapt this armor for humans – against the coronavirus crisis or between them – it’s still interesting to know why some ants win fights that typically have little chance of survival.
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