High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ant- fungus mutualism is a symbiosis seen in certain ant and fungal species, where ants actively cultivate fungus much like humans farm crops as a food source. Interestingly, in some species, the ants and fungi are dependent on each other for survival. The leafcutter ant is a well known example of this symbiosis. A mutualism with fungi is also noted in some species of termites in Africa. Given the exclusive New World distribution of the >200 attine ant species, this mutualism is thought to have originated in the basin of the Amazon rainforest some 50–65 million years ago. The attine ants actively propagate, nurture and defend the basidiomycete cultivar. In return, the fungus provides nutrients for the ants, which may accumulate in specialized hyphal-tips known as gongylidia.

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