Ant Colony
© Gustavo Morejon
© Chris Knowles
There are more than 10,000 different types
(species) of ant in the world!
Lots
of ants
liveColony?
together
in toafind
group
What
is an Ant
Click
out called
an Ant Colony.
One type of ant is the Leaf-cutter Ant, from
South America.
The scientific name of
the Leaf-cutter Ant is
Atta cephalotes.
© Gustavo Morejon
Leaf-cutter Ants are found throughout
Central and South America.
What habitat do they live in?
Click here to see a picture of
tropical rainforest in Brazil in
South America.
Leaf-cutter Ants
are found in
tropical
rainforests.
© Kirsty Burgess/WLT
How do Leaf-cutter Ants live and
work together?
Each ant in the colony has a job.
In a Leaf-cutter Ant colony there are one or more queen
ants, and different sorts of worker ants.
The
jobyou
of theguess
queen ant
is tosome
lay eggs.
Can
what
of the jobs of Leaf-cutter
Ants
a colony
The
jobin
of worker
ants might
is to cut be?
leaves
The job of different worker ants is to
carry the small leaf shapes back to the
nest.
hereworker
for a surprising
AllClick
of the
ants fact
are female.
The
in the
thecolony?
colonyClick
livehere
together
in a nest which is
Whoants
guards
to find out
guarded by soldier ants.
© Gustavo Morejon
into
small
Click
hereshapes.
to find out
What do they eat?
© Paul Bamford
Leaf-cutter Ants do not eat leaves. They
Can you guess what Leaf-cutter Ants eat?
take
leaves
back
Click
here to find
out to their nest and then eat
fungus which they grow on the leaves.
Why are they important?
© Chris Knowles
Why do you Ants
think Leaf-cutter
Ants
are
Leaf-cutter
are a really
important
source
important in the rainforest? Click here to find out
of food for many animals and birds.
The leaves that Leaf-cutter Ants store underground, to
grow fungus on, can help trees in the rainforest to grow.
How long do they live?
Ants
maydo
only
a few
weeks or they may
How long
youlive
thinkfor
ants
can live?
Click here
to find
live
for a
fewoutyears.
How big are they?
How big do
you think
ant is?
Queen
ants
area queen
50 mm
long,
How big doants
you think
worker
ants are?
Worker
are
13-17
mm long.
© Gustavo Morejon
Soldier ants are larger than the workers but smaller than the queen.
What do they look like?
Leaf-cutter
Ants are insects and so they have
How many legs do ants have? Click here to find out
6 legs.
The colour of Leaf-cutter Ants is dark red or brownblack.
© Gustavo Morejon
Jaw
Abdomen
Thorax
Head
This ant is carrying a seed
Tell me about their babies:
© Gustavo Morejon
• The queen lays eggs in the nest.
• The eggs then hatch and become larvae.
• The larvae change into adult ants.
Interesting fact:
© Gustavo Morejon
Leaf-cutter Ants are very strong; they can
carry pieces of leaf that weigh 20 times their
own body weight!
If you raise £25 for the protection of an Ant Colony we
will put it towards World Land Trust projects for the
conservation of wildlife habitat in Brazil.