Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Scientists discovered ant a leaf cutter capable of turning the skeleton into an armor or body armor using biomineral. Biomineral is a protective force previously unknown in the world insect.
Launch Iflscience Thursday (26/11), a biomineral iron body layer was seen in the natural life of krutaceans such as lobsters. Biomineral are also found in other marine animals such as sea urchin spines which contain calcium carbonate.
The biomineral layer develops when the ants mature. It forms a hard skeleton to cover almost the entire ant’s body.
Phys reports, researchers suspect that it has something to do with army ants, another species of ant that grows mushrooms, Atta Cephalotes or Acromyrmex echinatior.
Both species are often involved in territorial ‘wars’ between ants.
“Army ants of the Acro and Atta types can cut each other’s bodies if there is no ‘armor’. But when they have armor, they really change and always win,” said the researcher.
The researchers discovered the findings while investigating the relationship between ant species that are overgrown with fungi Acromyrmex echinatior and antibiotic-producing bacteria that help them protect their crops.
Cameron Currie, professor of bacteriology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said his team noticed that the larger “worker ants”, known as majors, had a layer of whitish granules over the surface of their bodies.
Researchers found that the benefits of the biomineralized tough “skin” go beyond simply providing additional protection during war between ants.
Their study shows that it also helps protect them from disease-causing fungal infections Metarhizium anisopliae, which may spread rapidly through their dense colonies.
Journal Nature Communications revealed that this type of mushroom-growing ant grows its own body armor using biominerals. Biomineralization is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, often to harden or rigid existing tissues.
Such a network is known as a mineralized network. These minerals also frequently form structural features, such as seashells, and bones in mammals and birds.
These ants are also referred to as leaf pruning ants, whose evolution is very unusual, because during the last 60 million years, ants co-evolved with the fungi they grew for food.
Adult colonies of several ant species are effective superorganisms, with the potential for millions of ants to be divided into different groups.
Researchers found that many species of ants grow on leaves covered in a mineral layer, a coating of the outer skeleton, which effectively provides protection to their bodies.
To test the biomineral function of the ants, the researchers put the ants into combat, mimicking the territorial ant wars that often occur in nature.
“In the direct combat of the larger and stronger ants, ants with biomineralized cuticles lose significantly less body parts and have a much higher survival rate than biomineral-free ants,” the researcher said.
Research for 6 days, 50 percent of ants with biomineralized successfully fought a stronger enemy, in contrast to ants without biomineral.
(In / DAL)
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