Analogies for Sustainable Development/Insect agriculture as human agriculture

Analogy Map
adapted from Mueller et al. (2005) :

Quote Bank
Mueller et al. (2005) :

''“The cultivation of crops for nourishment has evolved only a few times in the animal kingdom. The most prominent and unambiguous examples include the fungus-growing ants, the fungus-growing termites, the ambrosia beetles and, of course, humans”''

“Insect fungiculture and human farming share the defining features of agriculture: a) habitual planting of cultivars in particular habitats,... b)cultivation aimed at the improvement of growth conditions for the crop,...c) harvesting of the cultivar for food, d) nutritional dependency on the crop”

Mueller, Rehner, & Schultz (1998) :

''“Fungus farming by ants of the tribe Attini originated in the early Tertiary and thus predates human agriculture by about 50 million years. During its extensive evolutionary history, this symbiosis between “attine” ant farmers and their fungal cultivars has acquired an astonishing complexity, involving secretion of antibiotic “herbicides” to control weed molds and elaborate manuring regimes that maximize fungal harvests.”''

“ants, like humans, succeeded at domesticating multiple cultivars during the history of their agricultural symbiosis”

“Domestication … may have persisted for 50 million years of ant evolution as a means to replace cultivars after accidental or pathogen-driven loss of gardens, to respond to environmental changes by acquiring cultivars with novel features, or to capitalize on strains that were improved while associated with other ant lineages.”

“the history of ant agriculture may have been characterized by the same rapid lateral spread of cultivars that has shaped the history of human agriculture.”

Further Resources
Cossins, D. (2015). Amazing animal farmers that grow their own food. BBC.