Grasscutter Ants Cultivating Crops - Insect Worlds

There's one micro world where the impact of a single species of arthropod is evident. The Argentinian Pampas grassland. A landscape that's been created almost solely by one tiny creature. Grasscutter ants. These insects are only one and a half centimetres long and yet they achieve something few animals are capable of. Through their activities they have completely altered their own environment. Grasscutter ants are the farmers of these grasslands and like farmers they shape the vegetation. Each year a single colony will harvest over half a tonne of grass cuttings. Surprisingly these ants don't actually eat grass but they have found a way to cultivate their crops and this happens underground. Their nests dominate the subterranean environment with tunnels extending over seven metres deep. Here they share their chambers with a special fungus that's found nowhere else on earth and this fungus can digest grass. The ants feed their grass harvest to the fungus and in return the fungus produces edible gardens. These fungus gardens are prolific enough to feed the whole colony of ants. All five million of them. But their impact does not end there. They also alter the landscape. The fungus releases carbon dioxide lethal in large concentrations. But the ants have a clever way of combating its build-up. They construct massive towers that help draw fresh air in and suck stale air out effectively acting like air conditioners. These grasscutter ants with their incredible building and farming skills have completely shaped this micro world. An ecosystem which without the ants would not even exist.