naure.com
AnimalsSurprise 5/5Difficulty 3/5Reviewed on September 13, 2026

Leafcutter ants do not eat the leaves they cut.

Why it is true

They carry pieces of leaves to the nest and use them to grow a fungus, which feeds the colony. The leaves are the fungus substrate, not the ants' direct food.

Source: National Geographic

Would you rather be asked first?

This is the reading side of the site, so the answer is in the sentence above — that is the whole point of it. Test yourself works the other way round: the question comes on its own, and the fact and the explanation only appear once you have answered.

Test yourself →10-question challenge

Related facts

More in Animals

See all →