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Trinidad & Tobago
noun
The leafcutter ant; They get their name from the way they cut leaves from trees, which they then haul back to their nest. They do not eat the leaves, but instead they use it as compost to grow a particular type of fungus that does not grow anywhere other than in leafcutter ant nests. The ants eat the fungus, and feed it to their young. The fungus is grown in football sized chambers inside the nest. There can be 300 or more of these chambers inside the nest, and all of the earthworks to build them might involve the removal of 18,000kg of earth during the lifetime of the nest.
also known as
wada
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6 comments
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anonymous
15 years ago

"Bachaco" is used in Venezuela for this same type of ant.

Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago
Thanks
8 years ago

I love the information I catch bachacas and I wanted to know what it eat

Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago
Markus G
7 years ago

Because if they are attacking your roses and carrying away bits of pretty petals they look like a wild drunken Bacchanalian carnival parade??

Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago
keemstar
4 years ago

what are the predators of the bachac?

Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago
Anthony Joseph Hatt
4 years ago

These Bacha are tasty dipped in flour and fried.

Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago
Anthony Joseph Hatt
4 years ago

Back in my younger days in Couva me and some friends use to put Red-Ants on our penises and see who can stay still without bawling and crying. After a couple of minutes or so we would all run off screaming in different directions, so of them would even trip over and fall down in the dirt track rolling around and bawling.