Leaf-cutter ants put on quite a show. In established colonies, millions of “workers” cut and carry sections of leaves larger than their own bodies as part of a well choreographed, highly functioning society. “Anyone who has ever come across a trail of ants cutting leaves and watched that trail run through the forest can recognize how charismatic, and what kind of large impact they have on the tropical ecosystems in which they occur,” says bacteriologist Cameron Currie.
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