Leafcutter Ants | National Geographic

this is nature’s equivalent to a small
berserk lumberjack with a turbo powered
chainsaw it’s a leaf cutter ant and no
leaf and the canopy is too big for it
sawtooth mandibles it’s not just leaves
of course with their jaws vibrating
1,000 times per second leaf cutter ants
will happily slice dice and julienne
flowers as well if it grows and can be
carried back to the nest it’s fair game
and as you can see size is no object
to these micro muscleman their job is to
strip the tree and cart it back to the
nest and they do this with frightening
efficiency the path back to the nest
becomes a veritable ant superhighway and
whoa be any insect getting in the way of
these infinitesimal beasts of burden
this forager crew takes all the foliage
back to the nest and then heads up for
another payload
once inside caretaker ants turn the
leaves into a garden of fungus which
becomes an school but leaf cutter ants
aren’t the only ones feasting on the
abundance in the upper reaches of this
tropical rainforest there’s plenty left
for everyone if you’re any kind of
insect the world is your salad bar no
matter how many friends show up mother
nature always seems to provide enough
oleic for every species and like any
good buffet there’s something for
everyone every kind of bug every kind of
leaf and you can eat it here or you can
take it home