Native to South America, worker leafcutter ants emerge at night in huge numbers to scissor off leaf sections with their powerful jaws and carry them back to the nest. Then, workers of a smaller size cut the leaves into tiny fragments, eventually creating a moist mass of material riddled with tunnels that looks like a grayish-green sponge. On this garden grows a fungus which serves as the ants' food. The queen, an insect the size of a newborn mouse, spends most of her long life producing new generations of leafcutters. At Montshire, you can see these remarkable creatures at work in a new plexiglass terrarium.
Ants help create soil and keep it fertile.
Without ants, most animal populations would crash towards extinction for lack of food. Ant activity can really change the landscape in dramatic ways, too. A Dutchman living in British Honduras once described his attempt at planting a garden near a leafcutter ant colony. He arose one morning to discover his garden had been completely defoliated. In the center of the garden was a large peak of freshly excavated earth, into which moved an endless procession of ants, carrying bits of leaves over their heads like parasols.