I thought it would be neat to have a forum thread where we discuss interesting things about the Earth and the world. This is a very broad topic, so please feel free to interpret this however you wish.

I am going to start out with an interesting insect: the leaf-cutter ant. Leaf-cutter ants are farmers! They cultivate a special form of fungus that breaks down organic leaf material and produces starches and sugars for the ants to eat. These ants are not able to break down the cellulose in leaves by themselves, so they really do depend on the fungus for their food. Interestingly enough, the fungus also depends on the ants for survival. Ants naturally produce an antibiotic - it appears waxy and whitish on their bodies. This antibiotic actually protects the fungus from another fungus that could destroy it. So it's a perfect symbiotic relationship.
There are different kinds of leaf-cutter ants, but all participate in fungal farming.
Different ants within leaf-cutter ant colonies have specific jobs and duties, some gathering leaves, some tending to the fungus, and others caring for the larvae.

This is a broad overview, but you can check out more about leaf-cutter ants here: http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/learning/animals/invertebr
ates/ant

Or, if you live in Chicago (and probably other cities, Chicago is just the one I know about) you can go see some leaf-cutter ant colonies at the Lincoln park zoo!