Parasitic fungus may have emerged 18 million years before the ants with which it lives today (IMAGE)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

Parasitic fungus may have emerged 18 million years before the ants with which it lives today

Caption

An ant (genus Atta) removes fragments of a fungus garden used to feed the colony. The insects’ cleaning behavior functions as a social immune system

Credit

Quimi Vidaurre Montoya/IB-UNESP

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