Area of zoo
Enclosure status
Open
IUCN status
Least Concern
Scientific name
Atta cephalotes
Order
Hymenoptera
Type
Invertebrates
Family
Formicidae
Region
Americas
Habitat
Rainforest
What do leafcutter ants look like?
This small insect has a brown body and six legs and also features to sharp pincers at the front of its face which it uses to cut leaves. These amazing insects are some of the wonders of the animal world, industriously carrying their segments of leaf back to the nest.
Leafcutter ant facts
- They can lift up to 50 times their own body weight
- There are 47 species of leafcutter ant.
What do leafcutter ants eat?
Leafcutter ants eat a unique type of fungus, which they farm in fungus gardens and feed with a compost made out of the leaves they cut. They were farming millions of years before humans!
Where do leafcutter ants live?
Central and South America, Mexico and parts of the southern United States.
Escape to the rainforest
A place in the city like no other, with trees filled with monkeys, snoozing sloths and bats flying overhead! Be transported to the Amazon rainforest and find out why it's one our most popular spots!
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