Fantastic Ants - Ant Watching and Ant Farms What animals can
sew? How about garden and herd other animals? What animals plant
wildflowers? Or dig up fossils? If you think the answer is “only
people”, then you are wrong. Ants can do all those things too.
Weaver ants in Africa use their own young (larvae) as spindles
of thread to sew leaves together for nests. Leafcutter ants use
the leaves they cut from plants to grow underground fungus
gardens. Many types of ants take care of “herds” of aphids, even
taking a few under ground in the winter and returning them to
plants in the spring. A few species of ants herd caterpillars,
taking them into their nest each night and leading them back up
into nearby trees in the morning. Ants are responsible for
planting many wildflowers in New England and other areas. The
wildflower seeds have special structures on them that serve as
ant food. The ants peel off the structure and throw the
remaining, still viable seed into their refuge heap, “planting”
it for the next season. Fi