Leaf Cutter Ants
Atta and Acromyrmex spp
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Leafcutter ants farm a fungus inside their nest that provides food for the colony. The fungus in turn feeds on chewed up leaves the ants provide. The caste system of the leaf cutters is a bit like a Russian doll scenario. First, the largest ants are the guards. The guards are fierce protectors of the workers. They have large heads full of muscle that power their massive jaws. It is because of these ants that researchers excavating nests stop work to control the blood flowing from their wounds. The guards are even known to cut through leather. Next down are the largest worker ants, which cut the leaves and carry them back to the nest. They then give them to smaller porter ants, which chew the pieces up for the fungus. There are also ants smaller than the porters. These roam the fungus gardens thinning out dense fungus areas and replanting it on new mulch surfaces. Smaller still, no bigger than a pinhead, are the ants that pull out individual strands of fungus and feed them to their larger sisters.
