Agriculture in ants

Summary

Agriculture and domestication are practices undertaken by certain ant species and colonies. These ants use agricultural methods and are known as one of the few animal groups, along with Homo sapiens, to have achieved the level of eusociality necessary to practice agriculture. It is estimated that ants began this practice at least 50 million years ago. The domestication of plant, fungus, and animal species by ants is well documented. For some ant species or groups, this is an activity essential to their survival, particularly in a symbiotic relationship with the cultivated species, especially plants or fungi. Some plants require the presence of ants for their survival and offer benefits to the ants in return, creating a mutualistic relationship between their species. The agricultural practices of ants vary widely from one species to another, but they can engage in creating compost necessary for plant growth, fighting pathogens that affect cultivated species, destroying invasive species that threaten their crops, creating "ant gardens" of up to fifty different plants, optimizing crops by adapting to the solar cycle and other natural cycles, or generally engaging in grooming activities. In some cases, it is believed that ants can achieve productivity levels similar to the early stages of human agriculture. Ants also domesticate numerous animal species, especially aphids and Lepidoptera. Plant farming by ants, discovered only in 2016, is a rapidly evolving field of discoveries.