Classic view of leaf-cutter ants overlooked nitrogen-fixing partner

Bacteria boost nutrients for fungal crops that feed millions of six-legged farmers

No pigs or chickens yet. But the vast farms where leaf-cutter ants raise their fungal crops may harbor a crew of previously overlooked farmhands — nitrogen-fixing bacteria.

SNIP, SNIP Leaf cutter ants slice foliage into bits that they can carry back to their nests.