fungus-growing ant

noun

Any ant of the tribe Attini, which grow fungi in their ant colonies using food scraps, the fungi are then used to feed the colony.

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Meanings

nounfungus-growing ant (plural fungus-growing ants)

plural fungus-growing ants

  1. biologyAny ant of the tribe Attini, which grow fungi in their ant colonies using food scraps, the fungi are then used to feed the colony.

    Fungus-growing ants (Attini) are in reality unique fungus-culturing insects.

    1966 August 5, NEAL A. WEBER, “Fungus-Growing Ants: A symbiotic relationship exists between an insect and a plant, involving an effective culturing technique.”, in Science.org
    1 more example

    The fungus-growing ants are a New World group of > 200 species, all obligate symbionts with a fungus they use for food.

    (Can we date this quote?), “Fungus growing ants”, in AntWiki

Origin

From fungus + growing + ant.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

fungus-growing ant. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fungus-growing%20ant

MLA

“fungus-growing ant.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fungus-growing%20ant. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “fungus-growing ant,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/fungus-growing%20ant.

Source: fungus-growing ant on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.