Leaf-cutter ants

Javy, January 12, 2015

I saw something pretty cool on our stone walkway here at Ecoparque Uruguay.  Leaf-cutter ants are a type of ant that cut leaves off little plants and they carry the leaves to their nest.  They chew the leaves and make they make a pulp.  Then they poop on it and then it sits there for awhile and it grows fungus.  They eat the fungus.  They are farmers because they grow their own food.  Don't you think that's pretty cool?

I took some videos of the ants marching with their leaves on their backs.  They hold them by their mandibles.  A mandible is a jaw.  But the amazing thing about that is that they carry ten times more weight than themselves.  That would be like Dad carrying a truck.

Here is my video of the leaf-cutter ants.