Leafcutter ants hard at work in Amazon rainforest

These leafcutter ants from the Amazon rainforest of Ecuador dissect a leaf with their strong mandibles and carry the pieces to their colony's fungus garden under ground. 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!