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Atta cephalotes - leafcutter ants
Panama

photograph © Alex Wild 2007

Ants slice through leaves using a repeated scissoring motion, where the leading mandible (on the right) is anchored into the leaf and pulls the trailing mandible to make the cut.

 
Captive colony at University of Texas

This image is copyrighted by the photographer and cannot be used without permission. To obtain permission to use this image, please email Alex Wild. (alwild (at) myrmecos.net).  Most of the photographs on myrmecos.net are reduced from their original size and compressed for more efficient web transmission.  In some cases, higher quality versions are available.

This image was captured with a Canon EOS 20D, using a Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens.