From La Selva Ecolodge, Ecuador.
I had to get in close to see these leafcutter ants carrying their plunder across the forest trail back to their nest. There were plenty of gross/scary bugs in the rainforest, but these guys were actually really cool to see. They chew off pieces of leaves, but they don’t actually eat them; they carry them back to their nest where they chew them up and use them as nutritional substrate for a fungus that they cultivate. It’s basically ant agriculture!