Leafcutter ant

Workers are dark brown, with thorns. The queen is approximately 30 mm long, and dark brown. Second to humans, leafcutter ants form the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. Leafcutter ants cut pieces of fresh plant material (image 3) which they take back to their nest. These plant materials are composted to grow a particular fungus (Lepiotaceae sp.) that is endemic to leafcutter ant nests. The fungus cultivated by the adults is used to feed the larvae, and the adult ants feed off the leaf sap. In certain areas leafcutter ants can be a pest to humans, defoliating crops and damaging roads and land with their nest-making activities. Some Atta species are capable of defoliating an entire citrus tree in less than a day, but it is also known that these ants commonly rotate the plants they harvest to prevent infecting their nests with diseased or toxic plants.