The inquiry of ants in the Microbiology lab .
A portion of the science laboratory ’s research is devoted to a group of pismire that grow and farm fungi , as well as the microbes associated with them both beneficial and harmful . This is an ant garden attack by the parasitic fungus Escovopsis .
The lab is also sequencing the genomes of a number of the instrumentalist in the fungus growing ant system . They ’re analyse multiple specie of ants , the fungi they grow , the fungi ’s parasites , and antifungal bacterium that grow on the pismire . In this photo , the shaking brooder is growing a parasitic fungus .
Atta cephalotes , better known as leafcutter ants . These were observe sealed aside , due to their rather vicious nature . See that behemoth in the eye ? That ’s the queen regnant . Atta cephalotes is get it on for significant size differences between the castes within the species .
Here ’s the queen that is trap to Nancy Lowe ’s wall .
Because we had disturbed the nest , the ant move quickly to protect the brood ( those squishy white sacks ) . The big - headed ant in the centre is a declamatory doer , called a major .
More brood carrying .
One of the small ants escaped . We catch her with forceps , which she proceeded to attack with all her might . She has a death grip on these piece of alloy .
Trachymyrmex zeteki are generally friendlier and less scary than the leafcutters . They too are seek to hide their brood , which are the blanched forms you could see in the submaxilla of two of the ant .
In this photo , just about every ant is carrying away a precious payload .
are symbiotic bacterium that help protect against parasitical fungus that attack the garden .
emmet are very special about governing body . On the right is a pile of nutrient , and on the left is their rubbish dump . All waste intersection and corpses are dragged here , away from the principal nest . colony of Atta colombicai – another leafcutting ant – , waste dump can become respectable mounds in their own right , and are sometimes thrown into stream or down banks to bring in them away .
Apterostigma dentigerum populate in fungus that grows from the roof .
In the top right corner is a sexual adult . From this slant we could n’t separate the sexual urge , but the wings give it away as either a future poof or pilotless aircraft .
As we disturb the nest , one of the scurrying ants hooked part of the fungus on a rearward pegleg , and closed the scuttle that we were peering through . This may have been accidental , but for all the world attend like they were end the door on our look , asking us to pass on .
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