Amazing leafcutter ants. In Costa Rica we watched as a single ant cut a large segment off a leaf before joining the masses to carry its load back to its colony. Interestingly, the leafcutter ants do not feed on the leaves. Rather, the leaves are used to feed their fungus gardens on which they feed. Each ant can carry a load 20x their body weight. In this film you can see minim ants being carried on some of the leaves. These ants clear off parasites and the like which might cause disease in the colony. These colonies contain up to 8 million individuals and are second only to humans in being the largest and most complex societies on the planet. Truly amazing creatures.
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