For humans, the domestication of animals for their consumption appeared independently in different parts of the planet. Its main objective was to cover food needs when hunting was insufficient. As examples, it has been discovered that pigs were domesticated in the Near East between 8500 and 8000 BC; sheep and goats, around 8,500 BC, near the Fertile Crescent; and the Uros (cows and bulls) around 8500 BC in modern Turkey and Pakistan.
However, we were not the first to practice cattle ranching or herding. Different species of anthem had already domesticated animals a hundred million years ago. These hymenopterans were associated in mutualism, that is, a relationship in which both species benefit, with the aphids, to literally milk them.
Ants use their antennae to stimulate honeydew secretion by aphids. A viscous substance, rich in carbohydrates, which turns out to be a delicacy for livestock farmers. The aphids or aphids secrete it in the form of surplus food that they manage to suck from the sap, rich in carbon and nitrogen, coming from the stem or leaves of the plants.
But what do aphids gain from all this? It turns out that ants, as good shepherds , are in charge of defending them against the attack of different predators, such as the larvae of ladybugs. But their task does not end here, the ants also help to molt the aphids, removing the exoskeleton; in addition to dedicating himself to distributing the newborn aphids throughout the plant: extensive miniature livestock.
As expected, after such a long interaction, the evolution of the two has been conditioned by natural selection. According to a study by the University of Silesia in Katowice, in Poland, this symbiotic relationship could have modified the life cycle of some aphid species. An example would be that of the Paracletus cimiciformis species, which while one of its two possible morphologies maintains a mutualistic relationship with ants, the other, which is very similar to ant larvae, is transported to ant hills, where it feeds on the larvae of their shepherds, in a rather parasitic relationship.
As a curiosity, beyond livestock, it should be noted that there are also farmer ants. These are the zompopas or leaf cutters, belonging to the genus Atta sp . As their name suggests, these ants are responsible for trimming and collecting bits of leaves to grow their underground mushroom culture. These, in exchange for food, are responsible for secreting substances with a high lipid content, which are very nutritious for ants. This symbiotic relationship originated about 50 million years ago.
References:
Choker, P. (2021, August 29). Farm ants were the first shepherds in history. abc. https://www.abc.es/ciencia/abci-hormigas-granjeras-fueron-primeros-pastores-historia-202108290058_noticia.html
