Trinidad's Leaf Cutter Ant
Tracking the Forest Bachac

An adventure for a kid with a camera...

You will have likely heard of the leaf cutter ant - a rain forest insect that farms fungus in underground caverns. The fungus grown by these rainforest farmers produces sterile fruit that they feed their young.

Bachacs are famous for stripping young trees of their leaves, and creating bare foraging paths to their favorite types of tree.

 Mini Tropical Safari 

You don't have to look very far to find the forest Bachac, one of 2 species of leaf cutter ant found in Trinidad.

Theirs is a wonderful world for the young to explore, and in this micro-world you'll find some 134 species of ant, from large 2 cm long shiny black giants, also sometimes called Bachacs, to tiny Sugar Ants, about the size of a grain of sugar that are very fond of the sweet stuff.

 Explore Their World 

Budding nature lovers with a passion for exploration needs neither tour guide nor transportation to go on a mini Caribbean safari.

There's exotic life waiting under almost every blade of grass. In Trinidad you can discover tropical tree frogs, which fill the night air with courting songs; giant garden snails, bigger than a young boys hand; and Trinidad's leaf cutter ant, which will amaze you with its feats of strength. All you need for this adventure is a digital camera and some patience.

 Leaf-Cutter Ant 

Trinidadians sometimes call any large ant a bachac; it's a Spanish word form the time of the Conquistadors, which likely was borrowed from the Caribs and Arawaks.

Today's South American Amerindians, roast and eat the large breeding males and young queens after stripping them of their wings. So I am sure Trinidad's indigenous people must have done the same, way back when. Good protein, I guess?

 Fungus Farming Ant 

There are a few things to look for when taking pictures of bachacs:

You'll see 3 different ants when observing a leaf cutter ant trail: large soldiers with big heads and mandibles; normal size workers, who do most of the cutting and carrying; and little "mini-mes", miniature worker ants, which you’ll often see hitching a ride on leaf cuttings normal size workers take back to the nest.

These "mini-mes" are not baby ants. It's thought that their job is to ward off parasitic flies that lay their eggs on the cuttings, and to ensure cuttings are fungus free. Leaf-cutter ants are necessarily protective of the fungus they cultivate because like good farmers they don't want unwelcome pests in their gardens.

 3 Interesting Facts about Forest Bachacs 

3 other interesting facts: Remarkably, leaf-cutter-ant queens can live up to 20 years; a mature nest can house as many as
5 million individuals; and the fungus cultures grown in their underground cities can often be as large as a soccer ball. And while most Trinidadians would prefer bachacs stay in the forest, young naturalists can track them in almost every garden in Trinidad.

Entertain yourself! Explore, discover, learn...
Have a close encounter...