Photo by Sarah Hadley

Species of the day –February 28, 2013 – Leafcutter ants

Leafcutter ants are amazing. The amount of work the preform is really impressive. According to Wikipedia “Next to humans, leafcutter ants form the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth.” and “…containing eight million individuals.” We have found many of their giant mounds of excavated dirt and long cleared trails over which they haul leaf cuttings. The leaves they cut are used to feed fungus that they cultivate underground. These photos show a line of workers coming down a tree and also a place where they have had to drop a bunch of leaves in the hot sun.

Photo by Sarah Hadley