21st Century Guidebook to Fungi, SECOND EDITION, by David Moore, Geoffrey D. Robson and Anthony P. J. Trinci

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 10: Fungi in ecosystems
2. Chapter 11: Exploiting fungi for food
   1. Fungi as food
   2. Fungi in food webs
   3. Wild harvests: commercial mushroom picking
   4. Cells and mycelium as human food
   5. Fermented foods
   6. Industrial cultivation methods
   7. Gardening insects and fungi
   8. Development of a fungal fruit body
   9. Chapter 11 References and further reading
   10. Buy a PDF of Chapter 11
3. Chapter 12: Development and morphogenesis

11.7 Gardening insects and fungi

Attine ants in Central and South America have a rather unusual and ancient relationship with a fungus generally called Leucocoprinus gongylophorus, in the family Lepiotaceae (Basidiomycota). The relationship is a mutualism which is thought to date back to about 45-65 million years ago. They actively inoculate their nest with the fungus and then cultivate it by providing it with pieces of leaves, pruning the hyphae and removing intruder fungi.  As a reward the fungus produces special structures, called gongylidia; hyphal branches that have evolved to be eaten by ants. In Africa, some species of termite also maintain a ‘garden’ of fungi belonging to the genus Termitomyces (Order Agaricales, Basidiomycota). Nourished by the excrement of the insects, the fungus digests dead plant material brought back to the nest by the workers and provides more digestible food for the termites. We will describe these mutualisms in detail in Chapter 15 (CLICK HERE to view now), but we want to point out here that these are gardening insects, and just as we cultivate particular fungi for the food value of their fruit bodies, gardening insects cultivate fungi for the food value of the mycelium that results from its ability to digest plant remains.

Updated July, 2019