In the last issue we learned how these amazing leaf-cutting ants gather green leaves for a food supply in their nests. What kinds of leaves do they gather? They are chosen with care and always with a preference for orange, lemon, lime or grapefruit leaves. This presents a real problem for fruit growers who discover all the leaves from a single tree have been removed during one night.
What do the ants do with these leaves? Here again we see an amazing procedure in the wonders of God’s creation. Great numbers of worker ants are awaiting delivery of the leaves by the carrier ants. The workers chew the leaves into a pulp but do not swallow it. This pulp is given to other workers who coat it with an acid-like moisture before taking it to a storage area inside the nest.
While waiting many days for this to ferment and produce a coating of fungus, the pulp deposits are carefully guarded by yet other workers. Soon the fungus appears all over the surface of the pulpy pile, and this becomes the main food of the colony.
As this busy program goes on day and night, a certain amount of food spoils. There is also a problem of foreign insects coming in and being killed, as well as the death of some workers. Being very clean creatures, it is the duty of some workers to carry the spoiled food and dead insects promptly to an outside “garbage dump.”
The methodical ants have a highly developed method of distributing the fungus food, which is the responsibility of yet another group of workers. They deal it out as follows: Tiny workers who just tend the garden and feed the babies get the least amounts; leaf-cutters and carrier ants are given portions sufficient to keep up their strength; the biggest amounts go to soldiers, who fiercely defend the nest when necessary, and to the queen and “princesses” who will soon be starting colonies of their own.
If human beings tried such a program, long training would be required, and even then there would be many who wouldn’t work out too well. But the ants need no training. Each one just goes about its own business and stays on the job for its lifetime. This is another example of the Creator’s showing His care for all His creation and reminds us of His word in the Bible: “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, [provides] her meat in the summer, and [gathers] her food in the harvest” (Proverbs 6:6-86Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: 7Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, 8Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6‑8)). Let us each be wise and prepare for a future eternity by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour today.
ML-07/24/2011