Our photo of the day comes with a video from the Amazon rainforest.
Could ants be any cooler? They are social, smart, and have many marvelous tricks up their little sleeves – they leave me in awe. These female worker leafcutter ants at work in the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador, photographed and filmed by Andreas Kay, are no exception. Andreas explains:
"These leafcutter ants of the genus Atta from the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador dissect a leaf with their strong mandibles and carry the pieces to their colony's fungus garden underground. They cannot digest the leaves themselves but cultivate a special fungus on which they feed. The wingless worker ants are females. Each ant can carry up to 50 times its own body weight. This is equivalent to a man carrying a van over his head!"
See them in action below.
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