How Ants Learned to Control Fungus
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
- 66 million years ago an asteroid caused the extinction of the non avian dinosaurs along with many other types of plants and animals. Genetic data shows that it was at this time that the earliest known agriculture took place, conducted by the earliest agriculturists, the ants. These ants farm fungus in their colonies and some of them have even domesticated their fungus. So how have these creatures beaten humans to the game of something so complex by so many millions of years.
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Sources:
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Now make a video on how fungus learned to control ants
I absolutely love this idea for a follow up video
At first I thought I read the title wrong.
now....
Exactly my thought as I read this title.
That's like saying rice controls us. OMG
When I was kid people said the dinos died out 65 million years ago. Now it already 66 million years. Time flies so fast.
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3:27 ant carrying a leaf with another ant on top
they're so strong that they can lift things when someone else is actively weighing it down
Bet the on top is thinking "wow this is easy"
😂
The ant on top was on break
He is living a high life
@@nfrandom007 you sillies! actually, i'm pretty sure the ant on top is there to guard the leaf-carriers from enemies
Ant with fungus garden-
Behold my mastery of fungus.
Ant controlled by cordyceps-
bEhOLd mY MaSTErY oF fUnGUs.
*Behold my master: Fungus
*Ant, about to destroy a mushroom:* tell me the name of God you fungal piece of shit
*Cordyceps:* can you feel your heart burning? can you feel the struggle within? the fear within me is beyond anything your soul can make. you cannot kill me in a way that matters
*Ant, cocking mandibles, tears streaming down multifaceted lenses:* I'M NOT FUCKING SCARED OF YOU
@@qwertzuiop1230 This is even better
Haha, True.
EOL Y MSTEY UGU
Moth Light Media, I would like to thank you. Your videos are some of the most humble and honest I've ever seen in this type of content. You say what is true, remind us that a claim is controversial, and never add your own opinions. They are perfect for falling asleep to.
Also perfect for staying awake for!
He has a peaceful voice which it’s easy to fall asleep to after listening to a few videos at bedtime. But, I enjoy while awake, too.
This is an A+ job of putting my same thoughts into words. He also does a great job at world building and outlining science’s best understanding of cause and effect for each topic
I would prefer if someone adds his own opinions.
@Jon-mh9lk why? He isn't an expert on everything.
Glad to see the intro is back! Its quaint charm really gives your videos a special identity.
Agree! Missing the calming music though 🥲
@@lauravansanten7804 YESS the music he uses is almost like a trademark for his videos 😭
I work in the American Museum of Natural History and they keep a colony of Atta Cephalotes in their insectarium exhibit. Seeing them do their work in the morning is always amazing.
Bugs are weird, because I think bees are the most individually intelligent insects by a lot, but it's Ants that have somehow, almost seemingly by accident, made some of the most impressive technological advancements of any animal other than humans.
I wonder if it has less to do with intelligence, and more to do with the combination of creating new generations at such a fast rate, and having the need to adapt to outside factors so quickly due to their miniscule size? Maybe ants are just a sort of evolutionary superconducter.
I guess it’s similar to there being a species of bacteria for practically every possible metabolism or environment.
But what makes you think bees are the most intelligent bug? I like bees too but to me they were always kinda stupid but I guess that all bugs are in a way 😂
@@macon8638 I'd very much recommend you look into Bee research, it's fascinating! In the last several years especially, there have been a number of crazy findings about bee intelligence.
If you want a quick watch to get you up to speed, look up ZeFrank's video on Bees. Very entertaining, as well as educational!
As for ants, yes, I agree on the bacteria analogy. If you throw enough darts at a board, you'll eventually hit bullseye!
@@macon8638bees can remember and communicate lots of spatial data very accurately. You try giving me directions with your butt.
I can't help but think jumping spiders are really high up on the intelligence list for insects.
@@badcaseofstripes Not to be That Guy, but spiders aren't insects, they're arachnids. Also, while jumping spiders are ridiculously intelligent for such a small creature, they are also extremely solitary and asocial, especially compared to eusocial bees ants and wasps. So while from a solitary viewpoint, the spiders are probably better problem solvers (although there are experiments on bees showing them extremely well capable of that form of intelligence too - I think ZeFrank did a video on it a bit ago), eusocial bees are among the best non-human creatures in displaying social intelligence - their hives display democratic decision making, for instance.
An interesting quote from Wikipedia: “A special caste of workers manages the colony's rubbish dump. These ants are excluded from the rest of the colony. If any wander outside the dump, the other ants will kill them or force them back. Rubbish workers are often contaminated with disease and toxins, and live only half as long as their peers.”
What articles is this on?
Are you serious??... Man that sucks for them. I wonder how they dispose of such waste?... I mean like, how is it or how do they 'manage' it??.... You'd think it'd just be off to the side or something but I guess when it comes to the ants it's complicated....kinda like people LOL, well, kinda anyways
At least they’re still functional while contagious and stuff. Ants take any benefits they can from any source I’d imagine.
Slavery is natural.
@@Ruiseal The Atta cephalotes article
Work in a lab studying leaf cutter ants 🐜 so happy to see this video today! Sharing with our team!
"It was a good time to be a fungus."
Damn, according to my reincarnation chart I was a fern at the time.
It was also a good time to be a fern, IIRC fern spores rapidly increased in the fossil record right after the K/PG
1:40 the ant fell off the wall lol
That’s not funny dude
lmao
xD
@@bimbustheenforcerNuh uh.
He could have been seriously hurt #antrights
Love it when this dude uploads
I am subscribed to lots of biology / evolution / paleontology channels, and yours is right at the top on my list. You often cover things that I haven't heard about elsewhere, or even thought about. Fascinating. Keep it up!
As always, amazing content I can be lazer focused on or drift off to sleep to. Your voice is so soothing and I love learning about the different animals and plants you have to tell us about.
My favorite video of yours is the ancient giant mushroom one. Thanks for producing such excellent content!
“I don’t know why everyone’s complaining. I think the aftermath of the impact has been pretty great! Am I right, guys? Guys? Oh, yeah. They’re dead…welp, more food for us!”
-Fungas, 66 million years ago
yes the intro is back!
So really what's more impressive is that mammals were eventually able to harness plants and animals like insects have for millions of years.
I've been following your channel for a couple of years now and I look forward to any videos you post. I think of your content as a staple of my evolutionary TH-cam incursions, and I'm always happy that you never fail to deliver. Thanks for your work!
So glad the intro is back! 🥳 Now just need the calming background music too.
I just watched your video. It's so interesting that there was a time when animals learned to farm before humans did.
Videos like this that contextualise the behaviours we see in nature are so fantastic, thank you for all the hard work
Did you know about Allomerus decemarticulatus? It's an ant species that shows a different symbiosis with fungus compared to fungus growing ants. Instead of eating the fungus, they use it as a tool to catch prey- but they still raise it.
If I recall correctly a fairly recent paper suggested that ambrosia beetles were the first insects to develop fungal agriculture. Around 100 million years ago, quite some time before both ants and termites.
Wonderful! Answering a question that I've never thought to ask.
"how ants learned to control fungus"
"So the dinosaurs..."
You has us in suspense..glad the OG intro. is back..................
Thank you for always posting sources!
I love all of your videos, so accessible and well paced
the title reminds me of that zombie fungus that takes over bug bodies and controls them against their will 😨
It does not control them it makes them sick, destroying their impulses, that leads to them behaving weirdly. The fungus has no higher cognitive function anymore than any Virus does.
My favorite TH-cam channel
That iconic splash in the opening sequence is back!
The return of the fun-guy
The intro is back, the world is healing. Thank you so much!
Who wishes these videos were longer, because 10-12 minutes is just not quite long enough to fall asleep to?
For some that’s fine but I emailed him a while back asking for more in the style of his Madagascar video and he replied that a few more were in the works (has since posted that longer one focused on Australia)
Then make a playlist to sleep too
Marvelous, as always! Thank you very much for the wonderful video.
another fascinating upload. Love your content.
Love your videos Moth, thanks!
leaf cutter ants are my absolute favourite animal, ants in general fascinate me, but leaf cutter ants are simply on another level
That they are 😊
Harvester ants for me as we dont get leaf cutter ants in england
Sorry if im kinda late in this, but really think it would be interesting to see you make a video about prehistoric reefs. I always wondered whether coral reefs are a new thing, or something ancient. I know its just a Google search, but i would much rather see it in a video of yours.
🐜 "these edibles are banging, yo!"
I love nature, it's truly wonderful, this channel embodies that beauty!
Excellent as always! I love learning something new 💙.
Amazing video, as always!
Really interesting video, never considered how odd it is for fungi in colonies to be genetically different from the surrounding fungi
Ahh, the intro is back ❤
I find it fascinating that they are capable of gathering, tending to and understanding they will gain a food source later on down the road.. That is impressive for any creature
We need a youtube equivalent that is just eduational videos about ants. Theyre so fascinating. AntTube when?🐜
AntsCanada
An ant wrote this comment
There's tons of excellent vids available on TH-cam.
Just type "Ants" in the search box and fill yer boots.
@SmellyHam Ant Chad is pretty cool
Your my favorite Paleo channel on TH-cam ~
Super video, thanks for this!
Hype Hype Moth Light Media uploaded!!!!
Oh my goodness the splash is back ❤
Honestly you’re the best animal/ palaeontology channel on here and your voice overs are also definitely the most consistent & concise, really have enjoyed the content over the years keep them coming 👏🏾💯
I’m imagining an ant world where the lower attines are the hippie “heirloom tomato” types that get all smug about how they don’t eat unnatural, refined fungus
Great video as usual
more ant episodes please good sir. insect evolution in general is pretty crazy and undervalued
Insect evolution is a one of the deepest rabbit holes you can get into. You can't get out 😅
Bravo! An excellent episode.
Question: How big percentage of the earth surface have we excavated for scientific analysis on different fields?
Cordyceps fungus: **pulls out an UNO-reverse-card...**
WHOA YOU'RE BACK
I love how this clip starts with imagination land comet
Love your videos! Look forward to every one
The intro returns 🙏🙏
Yay! The intro!
I am still in your patrons list, despite having withdrawn my patronage years ago. Just an FYI.
At least the art has remained our unique feature:
A.I. "artists": {waving with seven-fingered hands}
But what's the time trial score? Ants lived and invented agriculture before humans ever existed. We developed it faster bro! 😢
Another great video.
Yay! The intro is back ❤
Every day a new Moth Light Media video drops is a good day 💗
Oh man. Imagine how vital that first mouthful of fungus is. If the new queen loses that she loses everything.
Great video. Thank you.
"Babe wake up, a new moth light media video dropped" 😂
"Babe wake up, someone commented an overused joke"
@@GimbalosMorkinar You must get invited to all the parties
@@GimbalosMorkinar Didnt know jokes had a time limit.
@@minheritance Babe wake up, new diss just dropped.
@@Vratty Less so time limit, more so copyright. Why else do you think the 80's call so often?
I was just wondering about this
That is beautiful....I know bees a bit and you might be surprised by just how conscious and aware they are when they organize themselves. Because their brains can't account for their intelligence, spending time with arthropods has made me think more about Rupert Sheldrake's theories about fields that seem to have the consciousness and behavior of species and individuals in their influence.
Please do a video on Pelican evolution. I have so many questions!
I've seen ants farming aphids....its amazed me for years , i can't help think maybe back in the day people watched ants and learned that they might be able to collect and farm animals.
You should make some playlists so I can fall asleep to your videos
The fungus: great work, now we move to phase 4!
Also due to pyroaerobiology, the ash resulting from the asteroid causing massive fires may have contributed in the spread of the fungus and other microbes to be carried if not help them spread from the aftermath of the impact.
It’s definitely not just wood ants that keep livestock. I studied this topic on a whim once, and the shear number of ant species that herd various types of Hemipteran insects (not just aphids) is staggering. The ant species which do this are far too numerous to list but include Argentine Ants, Black Garden Ants, Winter Ants, Carpenter Ants (and all other Ants in that genus), Meat Ants, Big-headed Ants, Weaver Ants, and different species of Crazy Ant, among many others. As a phenomenon it’s waaaay more common and widespread than fungus farming. Though it does seem like different ant species rely on it to different degrees.
First channel where i watched every video
WAKE UP MOTH LIGHT MEDIA DROPPED
3:26 ant going for a ride on a leaf while his friend carries him
Moth Light Madia can you make a video of trying to uncover the mystery of the evolution of the ospreys
Insects keeping insects as livestock
Well, fungi is learned to control ants too
The last sentence 👌
You might like to explore foliary nectaries in plants like legumes and the starch granuals in plants like castor. Both are ancient ant relationships.
Castor actually has both.
The intros back🙌🙌🙌🙌
Can’t wait for the next vid mlm
Can you make a video on how clownfish evolved the ability to change sex?
Check woodwasps of the family Siricidae, they carry a specific fungus that inject with their eggs on dead or dying trees
Awsome video
I took a shot of whisky every time he said the word "fungus", and now I'm dead. Probably will be consumed by a fungus, if it can handle the alcohol.
Cool stuff
I wonder if the drastic reduction in insect numbers is affecting fungal distribution and all the knock on effects that entails . In other news where are the uk butterflies this year ?
3:44 - Fungus is exclusive to long-term host
THE INTRO IS BACK!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Also I had always assumed leaf cutter ants were harmless but a recent episode of “Naked and Afraid” showed that they apparently bite humans a lot for some reason
Hmmmmm. Ants.
Hmmmmmmmmm. Bees.
-Anteater