It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus.
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The fungi farmed by ants (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) also produces mushrooms when their colonies die out. This fungi can't survive without the ants and the ants propagate it by carrying it with them when they found new nests:
So what is the purpose of the mushrooms?
Is it just a hold-over from the days before the fungi was dependent on ants?
I've been trying to find out if you can eat the ones that grow on old ant nests.
myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)
Attached: 1 image I had NO IDEA that Atta fungus could fruit. Can people eat it? The ants have optimized the fungus for protein, sugars, amino acids. It's a super food for ants, which might not sound relevant to people, but humans & ants have a lot in common when it comes to diet. We both need high calorie density foods. The typical ant diet of insects & sugars is pretty nutritious. Probably not what we'd call tasty. I really need some mushroom expert to find out if we can eat that fungus. It's very special.
Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)
"gongylophorus" isn't a bad name for the fungi of the Atta. The ants have domesticated them to make gongylidia which are like little underground ant treats that form on the mycelium. So it's a gongylophorus fungi, or a fungi that make gelatinous translucent protein packed ant treats.
And we think we are so slick with our beans and corn and apples.
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termite empire is fallen
@futurebird @kevinrns @michaelgemar giant mushrooms over human cities also herald the fall of our empires
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@futurebird @kevinrns @michaelgemar giant mushrooms over human cities also herald the fall of our empires
@trurl @futurebird @kevinrns Dark, but accurate.
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
@futurebird That's a big frickin mushroom!
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@futurebird That's a big frickin mushroom!
To make an omelet you need like six ostrich eggs.
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@futurebird In both cases it seems to me the fruiting body would produce spores, and given the right weather conditions, those spores could potentially find a new colony of either appropriate termites in the first case or appropriate ants in the second case. A last-ditch effort to continue, if you will. If this can't work for some reason - I would like to know why.
@llewelly see e.g https://genomic.social/@foaylward/116037979567279445 for one possible reason.
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
@futurebird I wonder how it tastes! That looks amazing!
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To make an omelet you need like six ostrich eggs.
@futurebird And a very large skillet!
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
@futurebird it's either a very big fungus, or a very smol human
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@futurebird @kevinrns @michaelgemar giant mushrooms over human cities also herald the fall of our empires
@futurebird @kevinrns @michaelgemar "The Invisibles"[1] has a bunch of sequences that really stuck with me back when I read it. These pages come to mind (fruiting fungal bodies over the remains of dead cities).
[1] which contains "product of its time" not-negative-but-not(?)-great representation of trans experiences, problematic language, and more. but which I don't want to throw away entirely. if you can, please recommend similar reading material which does a better job.
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
I've been reading about this mushroom and everyone says it's *really* delicious. But, you just need to luck out to try it. It's not really possible to cultivate it.
When a termite colony has a nuptial flight you may get a few to share with the town.
(corrected the reason for fruiting, which is different than in leaf cutting ants. )
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I've been reading about this mushroom and everyone says it's *really* delicious. But, you just need to luck out to try it. It's not really possible to cultivate it.
When a termite colony has a nuptial flight you may get a few to share with the town.
(corrected the reason for fruiting, which is different than in leaf cutting ants. )
@futurebird ...this suggests a fictitious future setting where farmers raise insect colonies not because the insects make an excellent source of protein, but because their agriculture turns out to produce great food for us, too. (I mean, we already do this for honey, right?)
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@futurebird ...this suggests a fictitious future setting where farmers raise insect colonies not because the insects make an excellent source of protein, but because their agriculture turns out to produce great food for us, too. (I mean, we already do this for honey, right?)
We kind of do that with old oak forests and truffles to some degree already.
Termites eat rotting wood, they might be able to be part of a composing operation and you get mushrooms as a side benefit?
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
@futurebird amazing.
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It turns out that fungus growing termites sometimes cultivate Termitomyces titanicus. This is an excellent scientific name.
CORRECTION:
I assumed they had to work like ants. Wrong! (A fruiting body would only emerge from a dead ant colony not so with these termites) Something about macrotermitinaes nuptial flights stimulates mushroom fruiting. (!) They get covered in pink spores.And you can eat it!
Hence the species name.
This is why the mushrooms are so huge. So they can dust the entire flock of winged males and females with the spores they will need for their new colony. Like throwing rice at a wedding i guess?
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It's never really found just living on its own without ants to take care of it?
Ants keep it clean, set the correct humidity, feed it plant matter...
In fact, many antkeepers have tried to farm it (so they have extra fungi for their pet ants) and it's basically been impossible for people to do it, even with clean rooms, carefully cut leaves and humidity chambers.
It's totally dependent on ants.
Now... could it maybe float as spores and join an existing ant colony? Maybe? IDK
@futurebird @PetraOleum huh, a totally domesticated crop that isn't cultivated by humans
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The fungi farmed by ants (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) also produces mushrooms when their colonies die out. This fungi can't survive without the ants and the ants propagate it by carrying it with them when they found new nests:
So what is the purpose of the mushrooms?
Is it just a hold-over from the days before the fungi was dependent on ants?
I've been trying to find out if you can eat the ones that grow on old ant nests.
myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)
Attached: 1 image I had NO IDEA that Atta fungus could fruit. Can people eat it? The ants have optimized the fungus for protein, sugars, amino acids. It's a super food for ants, which might not sound relevant to people, but humans & ants have a lot in common when it comes to diet. We both need high calorie density foods. The typical ant diet of insects & sugars is pretty nutritious. Probably not what we'd call tasty. I really need some mushroom expert to find out if we can eat that fungus. It's very special.
Sauropods.win (sauropods.win)
@hypha big fungi and fungi facts ^
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@futurebird @PetraOleum huh, a totally domesticated crop that isn't cultivated by humans
@futurebird @starwall ants are amazing, it is known
Are there any domesticated aphid species that can't live without their farmers, I wonder
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@futurebird @PetraOleum huh, a totally domesticated crop that isn't cultivated by humans
@PetraOleum @starwall @futurebird Ants, for one type of bug, have been farming and ranching long before human beings arrived on this planet. -
@futurebird @starwall ants are amazing, it is known
Are there any domesticated aphid species that can't live without their farmers, I wonder
Not aphids that I know of, but there is a species of scale insect that is deeply dependent on Acropyga who keeps them underground on plant roots. These ants are cryptic and carry a pregnant scale insect in their mandibles with them when they start a new colony.
