They do not eat the leaves
The leaves are chewed to a pulp and used as compost to grow a fungus underground. The fungus is the ants' food.
The Amazon · Bees, wasps and ants
Leafcutter ants
Atta
Red-brown ants walking in a line, each one holding a piece of green leaf above its head.
- Size
- Workers 2 to 14mm; the queen up to 3cm
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Forest and farmland from the southern United States to Argentina
March after you, carrying their leaves. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Leafcutter ants
Good to know
Six things about the leafcutter ants
Like carrying a car door
A worker carries a piece of leaf many times its own weight, held upright like a sail.
An underground city
A big nest can have thousands of chambers, reach several metres deep and hold millions of ants.
Different sizes for different jobs
Big ants cut and carry. Tiny ones tend the fungus, and ride on the leaves to fight off flies.
They build roads
The ants clear trails through the forest that can run for a hundred metres or more.
They use antibiotics
The ants carry bacteria on their bodies that make a medicine to protect the fungus from disease.
The real thing
Photos of the leafcutter ants
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Look down. A moving line of green leaf fragments crossing the path is unmistakable. Follow it to find the tree or the nest.
How to help
Leafcutters are the main plant-eaters of the American tropics. Their nests turn over and feed a great deal of soil.
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