Nature · 2
Since leafcutter ants cannot actually digest the leaves they cut, what do they use them for?
Answer
To feed a fungus they cultivate for food
Leafcutter ants chew harvested leaves into a pulp that fertilizes a specialized fungus garden inside their nest; the ants then eat the fungus, not the leaves themselves.
💡 Did you know?
Leafcutter ants farm fungus they cannot digest, farming it like cattle for food—the fungus cannot survive without them, making it an enslaved crop.
Other options people guess
- To build waterproof walls for their nest tunnels
- To use as soft bedding material for larvae
- To ferment into a sugary liquid the ants drink
Topics
- ants
- symbiosis
- fungus
- insects
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