In the Amazonian forests have gardens of the devil Bashny.Net

Ants gardener Amazonian forests there are abnormal places, which grows only one type of tree - Duroia hirsuta. Local tribes argue that the diversity of flora in these forests destroys an evil forest spirit Chulyachaki, for some reason loved exclusively D. hirsuta, but it is certainly not the case. Trees kill ants.





Previously it was thought that the formation of the "gardens" is due to the influence of allelopathic Duroia hirsuta to other plant species. However, in 2005, biologists from Stanford University found that the appearance of the "gardens" due Duroia hirsuta symbiosis with ants. As shown by experiments with planting plants competing in the "Gardens of the Devil," worker ants species Myrmelachista schumanni («lemon ants") kill the green shoots of other kinds of trees, their leaves injecting formic acid as a herbicide. In this way, the ants give their favorite trees to grow freely without competition.



Ants use the hollow stems Duroia hirsuta for building nests. Estimates have shown that the area of ​​"Gardens" is increased by about 0, 7% a year. The number of individuals working in large colonies of ants holding a "garden", reaching 3 000 000 and the number of ewes - 15 000. The largest of the famous "Devil's Gardens", numbering 328 trees, has an estimated biologists age of about 800 years. < br />








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