Atta ants (of which there are at least 17 species), although small, have a massive effect on ecosystems, with ecologists estimating that Atta colonies may in fact cut 12-17% of the total leaf production of tropical rain forests.
Interestingly, this bountiful collection of leaves are not for the ants dinner; instead, the leaf fragments serve as a growing medium for a special fungus called Leucocoprinus fungus (which is found nowhere but in ant colonies as of yet).
The worker ants bring their leaves and other vegetation back to the nest where the plant material is chewed into a pulp. After this, colony minding working ants then apply faecal droplets containing digestive enzymes which helps form the substrate for fungus formation. The fungus is essentially a life support system for these leaf cutter ant colonies where ants pluck the nutrient-rich swellings known as gongylidia to feed the colony’s larvae.
Know more:http://www.arkive.org/leaf-cutter-ant/atta-cephalotes/
Photo credit:https://www.flickr.com/photos/cajamediterraneo/5390227294
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