Leafcutter ants primarily transport pieces of leaves back to their nests.
The leaves are not usually eaten directly by the ants. Instead, workers chew the plant material into a moist pulp and use it to cultivate a specialized fungus in underground gardens. The fungus serves as the colony's main food, making leafcutter ants one of nature's best-known examples of agriculture.
Different worker castes perform different jobs. Larger workers cut and carry leaf fragments, while smaller workers process the material, tend the fungus, and remove waste. Some ants ride on the leaf fragments as they are carried home; these riders can help defend the leaf carrier against phorid flies that attack leafcutter workers.
Leafcutter ants may travel considerable distances to harvest vegetation, and colonies can strip plants rapidly. They also collect plant sap for water and nutrients. A common misconception is that leaves are simply stored as provisions like seeds in a granary. In reality, the leaves are the growing medium for the colony's cultivated fungus, and the ants carefully regulate the garden by adding suitable plant material and removing contamination.