#39: Leaf cutter ants

Litinsects #39: Leaf cutter ants

You’ve likely seen them in nature documentaries; countless individuals on a trail with abstract leaf cut-outs on their backs... these are LEAF CUTTER ANTS. They can carry impressively heavy loads on their backs, up to 20 times their body weight. But have you ever wondered what they do with all these leaves that they carry back to their nests? You might assume that they eat them but they don’t! What they actually do is way cooler than that.

Leaf cutter ants participate in a MUTUALISTIC SYMBIOSIS with fungi, a close relationship that benefits all parties. Ants cultivate underground fungus gardens in their nests and it’s actually the fungi that eat the leaves as they decompose. The fungus in turn serves as food for the ant colony! Because the fungus needs the ants to stay alive, it is a mutually beneficial relationship. Ants actively groom the gardens by removing parasites and even secrete anti-microbial substances to prevent growth of other “bad” microbes!

Here are a few more fun facts:

Leaf cutter ants are ENDEMIC to tropical regions of Central and South America (meaning they are found only there)

Each different species of leaf cutter ant cultivates its own species of fungus. Leaf cutter ants are not necessarily all closely related to one another but all the fungi species they grow are!

Colonies are broken in CASTES, with each group varying in size and task. The largest workers, MAJORS, defend the nest and clear the foraging path of debris. MINORS patrol the foraging lines and act as a defense for the MEDIAE, which are the foragers who actually cut and carry the leaves. The smallest workers are MINIMS, which tend to the fungus, care for brood, or even piggyback on larger workers to protect them from attacks by flying parasites!

It has been estimated that 12-17% of leaf production in tropical forests is stripped by leaf cutter ants! However, they don’t use just any leaves they come upon, they avoid plants that may be toxic to their fungi or that the fungi “don’t like”

These ant colonies can be massive, divided into sometimes 1,000 or more chambers. These have various uses including housing the fungus gardens, nurseries, and even trash chambers, where they discard the decomposed leaves and unused fungus. Colonies usually contain millions of individuals and occupy over 20 cubic meters!

It’s a pretty cool and crazy complex society! Hope you learned something

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