Leaf-Cutter Ants

Leaf-cutter ants are tiny farmers that grow their own food. They cut pieces of leaves and carry them to their underground nests. But they do not eat the leaves. Instead, they use the leaves to grow a special fungus that is their food.

Tiny Farmers

Leaf-cutter ants chew leaves into a mushy paste and use it to grow fungus gardens underground. The fungus is the only thing they eat. They have been farming this way for about 50 million years. That means ants were farming long before humans were!

Super Strength

Leaf-cutter ants can carry leaf pieces that weigh 50 times their own body weight. Long lines of ants carry leaf pieces back to the nest like a parade. A large colony can have millions of ants. Their underground nests can be as big as a house.

Fun Facts

• Leaf-cutter ants have been farming fungus for about 50 million years.
• A leaf-cutter ant can carry a piece of leaf 50 times its own body weight.
• A large leaf-cutter colony can strip a whole tree of its leaves in one night.

Did You Know?

Leaf-cutter ant nests can be enormous! A single colony can have over 8 million ants living in chambers that reach 20 feet underground.