2.1. Fungal isolate and culture conditions

Portions of fungal garden were collected from nineteen nests of Acromyrmex ants from Misiones province, in the North of Argentina. Dextrose Potato Agar and Malt Extract Agar LP Media were used for the isolation of the mycelial form of the fungus (Miyashira et al., 2010) (Collection date: September 2014. Collectors/isolators: Castrillo and Bich). The fungal garden portions were subcultured periodically until pure isolates were attained. The fungus garden material was incubated in the dark at 28 °C and 80% humidity for at least 20 days. The isolate was deposited in culture collection of the Universidad Nacional de Misiones with accession number LBM 190.