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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Some animals do more than find food: they grow it. Fungus-growing ants, termites, and ambrosia beetles tend carefully tended fungal crops; damselfish weed and defend algal gardens. Other animals practice looser forms of cultivation or husbandry. Here are seven examples, ranked by how directly they grow and harvest a food source—not by how similar their systems are to human farms.
What counts as animal farming?
There is no single definition that covers every example equally well. In this article, “farming” broadly means an animal modifies conditions for a food source, tends or protects it, and benefits by harvesting it. Fungus-growing insects are the clearest cases: they cultivate fungi and rely on those crops. Damselfish and marsh periwinkles also tend food sources, though some researchers describe marine cases as husbandry rather than advanced agriculture.
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The useful questions are what the crop is, what work the animal performs, whether it harvests the crop, and how dependent it is on the relationship. By those criteria, these seven animals show a range of farming behaviors—not seven identical agricultural systems.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteSeven animals that cultivate food
1. Leaf-cutter ants grow fungus gardens
Leaf-cutter ants cut pieces of vegetation and carry them back to their nests, but the leaves are not simply their meal. The ants use the plant material to nourish a cultivated fungus, which is food for the colony’s larvae. Insect-agriculture reviews describe attine ants as dependent on their fungal crops; a queen can carry a piece of fungus to start a garden in a new colony. A 2005 review describes how insect farmers isolate gardens, monitor them, remove pathogens, and maintain helpful microbes.
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2. Fungus-growing termites cultivate Termitomyces
Macrotermitine termites grow Termitomyces fungi in combs. Workers forage for plant matter, process it, and add it to the growing structure. In the system described in a 2003 PNAS review, fungal spores pass through termite guts and are deposited with fecal pellets, helping sow new growth. That review estimated that about 330 of more than 2,600 known termite species were obligately dependent on cultivated Termitomyces; this is a figure from the 2003 review, not a current species census.
3. Ambrosia beetles farm fungi inside wood
Some ambrosia beetles bore galleries into wood and grow fungi along the gallery walls. The fungi—not the wood—are the beetles’ principal food and are important to their life cycle. Beetles protect the gardens from contaminants. Fungus farming evolved independently multiple times among insects: a 2005 review reports that agriculture arose once in ants, once in termites, and seven times in ambrosia beetles.
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4. Damselfish weed and defend algal plots
The damselfish Stegastes nigricans maintains patches of algae by defending them from grazing intruders and removing less useful algae. In the surveyed setting, the alga Polysiphonia sp. 1 occurred exclusively in the fish’s farms and served as a staple food. The study described the fish–alga relationship as an obligate cultivation mutualism. The study offers a marine example in which territory defense and weeding support a food crop.
5. Marsh periwinkles create fungal growing sites
The marsh periwinkle (Littoraria irrorata) cuts grooves in cordgrass leaves. Fungi grow in the wounded areas, and the snail eats the fungi. A 2011 Nature paper groups marine snails farming intertidal fungi with examples that could be called husbandry, distinguishing them from more advanced insect agriculture involving crop dispersal, cultivation, and sustainable harvest.
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6. Ants tend aphids for honeydew
Some ants protect aphids and collect the sugary honeydew the aphids produce. The popular account that identifies this example also describes ants moving aphids between feeding sites. This is best understood as animal husbandry: the ants manage another animal that produces food, rather than growing a fungal or algal crop. The account is the source for the movement detail.
7. Spotted jellies host photosynthetic algae
The spotted, or lagoon, jelly example involves algae living in the jelly’s tissues. The account describes the jelly positioning itself to provide light to the algae. Because the available support for that specific behavior is the popular account rather than a scholarly source, it is safest to treat this as a reported example of hosting a food-producing partner—not as equivalent to a managed crop garden. The account gives this description.
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How these farming systems differ
| Animal | Food source or crop | What the animal does | How to describe it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leaf-cutter ants | Cultivated fungus | Carry plant material to nourish the garden; queens can transport a fungal starter. | Clear fungal agriculture; ants depend on the crop. |
| Macrotermitine termites | Termitomyces fungus | Forage and process plant matter; spores are deposited with fecal pellets. | Clear fungal agriculture; the 2003 review reports obligate dependence in about 330 species. |
| Ambrosia beetles | Fungi grown in wood galleries | Make galleries and protect fungal growth from contaminants. | Clear fungal agriculture; fungi are principal food. |
| Stegastes nigricans | Algae, including Polysiphonia sp. 1 in the surveyed setting | Defends algal plots and weeds less useful algae. | Algal cultivation mutualism described as obligate in the study. |
| Marsh periwinkles | Fungi growing on cordgrass | Cut grooves in leaves that provide fungal growing sites. | Often framed as husbandry or a more primitive form of cultivation. |
| Aphid-tending ants | Aphid honeydew | Protect aphids and, in the popular account, move them between feeding sites. | Animal husbandry, not a fungal or algal crop garden. |
| Spotted jellies | Photosynthetic algae hosted in tissues | The popular account says they position themselves to provide light. | Hosting a food-producing partner; the behavior is supported here by a popular account. |
How old is animal farming?
Fungus farming is ancient, but its dates are evolutionary estimates rather than direct observations. A USDA Agricultural Research Service–indexed 2024 study estimates that ant agriculture began about 66 million years ago. Its abstract also estimates a transition to obligately symbiotic higher cultivars around 27 million years ago and to coral-fungus agriculture around 22 million years ago. The study’s fossil-calibrated timeline covers 475 fungi, including 288 cultivated by ants. The USDA record summarizes the study.
Why “farmer” does not mean the same thing for all seven
Fungus-growing ants, termites, and ambrosia beetles cultivate fungal food directly and are the strongest examples of agriculture in this list. Damselfish actively tend and defend algal plots. Periwinkles create conditions where fungi grow, while ants tending aphids manage honeydew-producing animals. Jellies are described as hosting algae. These behaviors form a continuum of cultivation and husbandry; calling every one of them farming is useful shorthand only if the differences remain clear.
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