Facts about Leafcutter Ant Division of Labor
- 05
Media workers, an intermediate-sized caste, perform the bulk of leaf cutting and carrying in leafcutter ant colonies, bridging the roles between small minims and large majors.
- 04
In leafcutter ant colonies, the largest workers called majors primarily function as soldiers and can be several times larger in body mass than the smallest worker caste.
- 03
Minims, the smallest leafcutter ant workers, ride atop transported leaf fragments to defend foragers from parasitic phorid flies during the journey back to the nest.
- 02
Forager workers in leafcutter ant colonies are responsible for cutting and transporting leaf fragments, but they never directly consume the plant material themselves.
- 01
The division of labor in leafcutter ant colonies is size-based, with distinct worker castes ranging from tiny minims tending the fungus garden to large majors defending the colony.