Leaf Cutter Ants

Leaf Cutter Ants

Of all the different ants in this part of Ecuador, leaf cutter ants are probably the most interesting to watch. They are hard at work carry pieces of leaves everyday. They only time they stop is when it is raining or dark. We have read that some leaf cutter ants work at night, not during the day. Here in Shell the leaf cutter ants work during the day and not at night.

You might think the ants eat the leaves. In fact, the ants are farmers. They use the leaves to grow a fungus, which they eat. In addition to fungus, they eat seeds and fruit. Their nests can be up to twenty feet underground and there a millions of ants in a family ant hole.

After the ants have cut the leaves, they use a chemical scent to find their way home.

Ant Trail

Humans are the only things that can erase their trails. Sometimes when the ants have started a trail in front of a classroom or house, we use ant spray to encourage them to move the trail somewhere else. They can carry leaves that weigh 50 times their body weight.

The ant trail in the picture on the left is on our school grounds. It is 2-3" wide and goes from the jungle, across a sidewalk, and to the ant nest. Most of us are careful to step over the trail of ants on our way to and from school!