Beneath the floor of the tropical rainforest a complex colony of leaf-cutter ants (Atta cephalotes) runs a fungus farm with an efficiency many estate managers would envy. Five to eight million ants follow one of six trades according to their size, getting through as much foliage per day as a fully grown cow. But the foliage is not eaten by the ants: it is fed to their cultivated fungus which in turn grows at a far from natural rate producing food for the whole colony. A medium sized tree can be stripped in one night as the cutting ants bite the leaves into tiny pieces and pass them to smaller, foraging ants who carry them home in a long line, holding the piece of leaf above their head. Soldiers, gardeners and janitors complete the work force with only the drones mating with the queen.
