Leafcutter ants are conspicuous insects in warmer regions of the Americas. These spiny, charismatic ants are expert farmers, cultivating their food- a specialized fungus- in extensive underground galleries. The cut leaves are not consumed directly by the ants but are used to grow the fungus.
A small Atta cephalotes worker riding atop a leaf guards her sisters from attacks by parasitic flies. Ants carrying leaves cannot use their mandibles for defense, so they carry hitchhikers to ward off the parasites.
filename: cephalotes22
filename: cephalotes22
A small Atta cephalotes worker riding atop a leaf guards her sisters from attacks by parasitic flies. Ants carrying leaves cannot use their mandibles for defense, so they carry hitchhikers to ward off the parasites.
filename: cephalotes22
filename: cephalotes22
Camera: Canon (Canon Eos 20d) |
More details: exif |
Original size: 3120px x 2256px |
Current: 400px x 289px |
all images and text © Alex Wild 2008
insect pictures, insect images, insect photos, insect photography, ant images, bug pictures, bug photographs, insect identification, ant pictures
