Usuario:Luis Villalobos Fonseca/Taller

History

Colombia is a country rich in biodiversity, with more than 50,000 species of animals and plants​. For years in Santander, one of the traditions inherited from the pre-Columbian people of Guanes is the edible ant atta laevigata, popularly known as "hormigas culonas" (big-headed ants).  For this culture, the ants were also given to their wives as a symbol of love and proof of manhood.  The culture of Guane is estimated to have lived for 400 years, but their tradition of eating these ants has endured over the years.​

Santander

^{When we hear about “Hormigas Culonas' ' in Colombia the people immediately link with the region, Santander. For this reason, it is relevant to tell you about the places where this symbol of culture. According with (Gobernacion de Santander, 2019}​^{) Santander have eighty - seven municipalities organized into seven provinces that conform the political division, these provinces are: Comunera, García Rovira, Guanentá, Metropolitana, Soto Norte, Vélez y Yariguíes.} 

^{Hence, the “Hormigas culonas” come out of the anthills in the mountains in March or April each year} ​^{in towns like Socorro, Ocamonte, Barichara, San Gil, and many others. The climate in this area of Santander is hot, but the ants appear in the rainy season because the rain fills the anthill and the ants come out when the morning is sunny. The farmers of the region collect them using mirrors}​^{, rubber boots, sacks, and sticks to the delight of the palate of locals and strangers alike. When you visit towns like Barichara, San Gil, among others you can find in the different street’s sculptures with "hormigas culonas" as a symbol of the identity of Santander and cultural heritage, it is noteworthy that in his honor many artists are inspired to represent them in their works of art and local crafts.}

Sculpture

^{Bucaramanga city is the capital of Santander, known as (The city of the park). We can find on its street different sculptures in honor of this animal. The most outstanding is the sculpture "Way of the Ants"}​^{. A thousand ants made of thick sheets fabricated in iron make up this sculpture, built by sculptor Xiomara Montañez in 1998 for the 378th birthday of the city. This sculpture is located between the Bucaramanga and Piedecuesta roads and is a must-see when foreigners visit the city.}

Barichara

Barichara

^{Barichara is a colonial town considered one of the most beautiful in Colombia, with smaller houses and stone streets showing the magnificent history that is its own. The local economy is based on agricultural activities, tourism, and local craft stores. The town has different restaurants that offer the most delicious typical food included hormigas culonas Also, this town has different tourist sites such as the Cathedral of the Immaculate, the Church of Santa Barbara, the Park of the Arts, and the outskirts of town offer the most beautiful views of the region.The colonial route through Barichara by walking the Royal Road is an activity where you have contact with nature, breath air pure, explore and know the beautiful secret that hides this ancestor road by building the indigenous Guane people.}

Interesting facts

^{1.           This emblematic animal is exported to Canada, England, and Japan.}​

^{2.           Thanks to its commercialization, some 3,000 families live in Santander.  But With the climate change this animal  are in danger} ​

^{3.           The Packs of "hormigas culonas" range from 2,000 to 100,000 pesos.}

History section was written by: Yoleida Patricia Camacho Corzo

Atta laevigata

Big-but ant - The big-butt ant - atta laevigata refers to the Formicidae family. Like bees and wasps, they belong to the order Hymenoptera, which are easily identifiable due to their angled antennae, six legs, and their body divided into three sectors with a narrow waist. Ants are social insects that form colonies with large numbers of members. These colonies can be quite complex. Individuals present polymorphism and fulfill different functions within the colony. Some authors call the colony a super anthill. Big-butt ants are holometabolic insects. This means that they have a complete metamorphosis in which they pass through the egg, larva, pupa, and finally the adult state of the animal.​

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Creation of a new colony

The process in which the queen creates a new colony is very interesting. After the nuptial flight, the males die, and the queen is left wingless. She begins to dig a nest of approximately 12 inches. Before the nuptial flight, the queen in her cavity below the esophagus opening a large piece of the mycelium. This is the fungus with which these ants have a symbiotic relationship. After digging 30 cm, the queen throws the mycelium that she had collected and fertilizes it with its eggs.​

At the end of the first month, the offspring consisting of eggs, larvae, and pupae are enveloped in the already proliferated fungus. During this period the queen fertilizes the mushroom garden on her own and helps herself with her fecal matter. In addition, it consumes 90 percent of the mushrooms it deposits.​

When the first ants hatch, they begin to feed on the fungus and carry out activities related to caring for the fungus garden. By this time, the queen will have laid many more eggs. After two weeks, the workers leave the nest and begin to perform work related to foraging or searching for the leaves to feed the fungus they eat. At this point, the female (queen) stops doing other activities and concentrates only on laying more eggs until the last day of her life.​

Morphology

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Adult ants have several characteristics that distinguish them from other insects; such as the elbow antennae, the metapleural glands, and a strong constriction in its second abdominal segment or node-shaped petiole. The head, mesosome, and metasoma are the three well-differentiated body segments in the ant.

The head is the area of ​​greatest sensory development. It has eyes or ocelli responsible for detecting movements but that does not offer a good resolution. In addition to this, they have three ocelli on the top of the head that detect light levels. They have a pair of jaws that in some clans become very powerful. These jaws are used to crush, move food from one place to another, build nests and defend themselves. The three pairs of legs are anchored in the mesosome. At the end of each leg, they have nails that help the animal to climb and hook on various surfaces. Only males and queens have wings. The reproductive and excretory systems meet in the metasoma.

Hardworking insect

The largest number of female workers found in an atta laevigata colony is 3.5 million. The workers, for their part, have a great polymorphism. With great differences in size and anatomical proportion. This is due to the division of labor in the colonies. The atta laevigata workers have a line of work to cultivate the mushroom. The caste system of the big-butt ant consists of a division of specific functions. The first of these responsibilities are accomplished by the largest number of ants called marauders, these are responsible for leaving the colony in search of leaves and cutting them to carry the pieces inside the nest. Then, the slightly smaller ants cut those pieces of leaves into smaller sizes of 1.2 millimeters. Then even smaller ants cut the fragments into even smaller pieces making wet balls to which they add fecal fluids and add this mass to a new surface in a new abode. After that, smaller ants than those mentioned above pick up pieces of fungus from a growing chamber and plant them on a new surface.​

The smallest and most abundant ants in the entire colony play the maintenance role of the mushroom gardens. They constantly check, lick surfaces, and pluck plant species that have grown and are not supposed to be there. As can be seen, the division of labor is based upon the anatomical differences of the castes of atta laevigata workers. The youngest workers remain in the colony and the oldest work outside of it. There is another type of ant, the soldier kind. The function of these ants is to defend the colony of large vertebrates. They are equipped with a large head with large jaws and powerful muscles with which they can cause a lot of pain and repel the aggressor. However, when the colony must defend itself from other ants, it is the small ants that come out to fight.​

How is a colony inside?

[1]

The gigantic mushroom gardens and a large number of ants require a colossal colony. Researchers have found mature colonies of atta laevigata with a size between 26 and 67 square meters. The Brazilian researcher's work team perfected a mold inside the colonies. To create the mold, the team poured liquid cement into the nest. For a large colony it was necessary 6 tons of cement and 8,300 liters of water. After 2-3 weeks the preserved colony was carefully dug up.​

The number of mushroom heads found varies between 1,1149 in small colonies and 7,864 in the largest colony. Both reach 7 or 8 meters deep. Most of the fungal chambers are located at a depth of three meters although in the largest colonies 30 percent of the fungal chambers were located at a depth of 4 meters. ​

Atta laevigata, creation of a new colony, morphology and How is a colony inside? sections were written by: Luis Villalobos Fonseca

Gastronomy

Although in Bogota the typical dish is the "ajiaco santafereño", in Medellin the "bandeja paisa" and in Tolima the "lechona del Tolima"; in Santander as well as in other countries the "hormigas culonas" or scientifically called "Atta laevigata" is part of  gastronomy.

In Santander, these species of ants have been consumed due to its exquisite flavor and nutritional value. Rosen (2021) “states that “although it is an unusual food, the ants are believed to prevent high cholesterol in blood and are full of protein and Vitamin B, making it an unusual, yet healthy snack.”​

Preparing this snack is very easy; the general steps to prepare them are: remove the legs and wings of the ant, heat a frying pan with oil over medium heat and fry them, then pour them in a bowl and salt them. In some cities in the center of the country, people sell them on the road packed in small bags, and some restaurants in Barichara, San Gil, Floridablanca, or Aratoca offer them as a snack on the menu.

In addition, some typical Colombian restaurants offer desserts with hormiga culona, and some of these dishes are:

Lomo fino in chocolate sauce and hormiga culona with arracacha puree.

In this delicious dish, you can enjoy the flavor of the hormiga culona in a chocolate sauce on the pork loin. This recipe is the idea of Andrés Capacho, a famous Colombian chef.​

Tuna covered in "hormigas culonas" and panela honey with lemon.

This delicious recipe you can enjoy with tuna loin and a sauce prepared with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and sesame paste. This recipe is Leonor Espinosa's idea.​

Hormiga Culona ice cream

It is typical ice cream in towns like Socorro and Barbosa Santander. This ice cream is prepared with lactose-free milk and crushed hormiga culona; many tourists who travel to Colombia and visit Santander delight in this delicacy offered by the department.​

Based on the above, we can say that the region of Santander has a rich history and culture reflected in the way regional foods are prepared and consumed. Many of them, we see that they originated as a result of indigenous practices and others, were developed through the cunning of peasants and warriors who needed to save their food, to conserve it for times of scarcity.

Gastronomy section was written by: Sergio Andres Calderón

Scientific findings

We have always been curious about the goodness of everything that surrounds us, and thanks to this instinct we are interested in discovering more, thanks to this we have been able to advance in various fields of science. The Atta laevigata cannot be the exception, since its recognition is increasing all over the world.

Starting point of the research

Atta Laevigata queen ant

Atta laevigata is being studied by the universities of UDES and Quindío, with the financial support from Colciencias since 2018. These universities initiated the ¨Eco-evo¨ project that aims to produce medicines with proteins and other substances extracted from nature for the cure of infectious diseases. To initiate this project, these universities take these ants as the object of study, taking into account their cultural value and the gastronomic delight for which these are recognized​.

The relevance of this research is due to the size advantages it has over other ant species, which facilitates the management of genetic material. In addition, it is mentioned by Cristian Augusto Campos, a bacteriologist and associate researcher of the project, that the Atta laevigata may have a very resistant immune system since the queen ant has a lifetime of up to 20 years​; therefore, it is assumed that it can face different pathogens throughout its life. In addition, according to historical data, it is believed that the Guane (an indigenous community) raised culonas ants to feed themselves on long journeys, which is why they are considered a potential food from pre-Hispanic times to the present day.​

What to look for?

Researchers in this research seeks to identify whether big-butt ants possess antimicrobial peptides that are considered capable of eliminating infections in humans​. These are considered proteins that are produced by living organisms, and in the case of invertebrates; they allow them to protect themselves from their environment. These proteins are considered to have antibiotic properties that have the benefit of killing viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites​, according to studies that have been conducted on these proteins.

Gathering species for the research

The researchers chose the ¨La Culona¨ farm in the municipality of Barichara (Santander), to take samples of the species for the research work. There, they took five big-butt ants princesses with the permission of the Ministry of Environment. They were then transferred to the Biomedicine and Biotechnology laboratory for the extraction of genetic material​.

A captive colony of Atta laevigata leafcutter ants and their mutualistic fungus at the Museu de Zoologia da USP

These princesses were chosen because they have a long life span among the others of their species. In addition, the princesses are always exposed to a fungus cultivated by them that feeds during their existence​. Hence, it is considered that it may be a source of antimicrobial chemical compounds and a possible candidate for use in pharmaceuticals.

Other beliefs 

1. In the 50's of the twentieth century it was viewed as an aphrodisiac, as it is credited to work on sexual power​.
2. They are also believed to have benefits for soothing joint pain. According to historian Andrés Manrique, the Guanes crushed ants and formed poultices to use on the navel to relieve stomach pain​.
3. It is believed that the big-but ant was used to treat diarrhea. People removed their jaws, wings and legs, crushed them and ate them raw​.
4. In a research conducted by the Universidad Industrial de Santander, the composition of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids of this species was compared with commercial vegetable oils such as sunflower, olive, soybean, cedar and palm​.

Scientific findings section was written by: Luz Aydé Ávila Salamanca

References

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