In leaf-cutter ants, this coating is made of thousands of tiny, plate-like crystals that harden their exoskeleton. This “armor” helps prevent the insects from losing limbs in battles with ...

The leaf cutter ant (Atta rodona) is a fungus-growing ant that inhabits tropical regions like Manu. Groups of these ants are often seen at night dismantling area vegetation leaf by leaf. During a ...

First, two lilies disappeared from the garden. Then, a crape myrtle tree was stripped overnight. Tina Ramirez's house in the Harper's Landing neighborhood of The Woodlands was under attack. Every ...

The queen is a leaf-cutter ant–one of the most intriguing and potentially harmful insects on […] Skip to content. All Sections. Subscribe Now. 73°F. Tuesday, July 8th 2025 ...

Memorable activities included observing oil birds, the only nocturnal fruit-eating bird, and watching 2,000 scarlet ibises fly to a roost site on a small island. The animal life which captured my ...

A leaf-cutter ant. Leaf-cutter ants harvest leaves, chop them into nutritious pulp, feed the pulp to nourish their cultivated crops of fungus, and harvest the fungus to feed themselves.

One researcher in South America estimated that a large leaf cutting ant colony harvested approximately 13,000 pounds of leaves over a 6-year period. This same colony excavated 802 cubic feet of ...

Leucoagaricus gongylophorus Produces Diverse Enzymes for the Degradation of Recalcitrant Plant Polymers in Leaf-Cutter Ant Fungus Gardens. Applied and Environmental Microbiology , 2013; 79 (12 ...

Leaf-cutter ants at the American Museum of Natural History in April. The colony was harvested in Trinidad and nurtured in Oregon, and it arrived in New York City last December.