[ID: an illustration of an orange ant facing to the right holding a section of green leaf in its mandibles. It is on a painterly blue, green, and yellow background with patches of moss and lichen. End.]
Leafcutter ant! They cultivate a particular species of fungus by feeding it plant material and tending it like a little fungus garden. Adult ants eat the sap of leaves, but their larvae are fed the cultivated fungi. Ant farmers!
[ID: an illustration of two red stag beetles wrestling. One is lifting the other into the air with its mandibles. They are on a vibrant, patterned background of blues with yellow starbursts, and a red background with text that reads “1… 2… 3… fight!”, “giant stag beetle”, and “lucanus elaphus”. End.]
Big bad beetle battle !!
Gonna be the postcard for April in the creature club ;-) the theme this time is forest floor habitats! Bugs n slugs n salamanders coming at you soon along with ground-dwelling mammals and birds and such. :-) beetle timelapse below!