According to a new study, researchers found most older Central American leaf-cutting ants take on a new, less intensive role at a certain point in life -- though their later contribution to the whole is not without its own importance. It seems that cutting leafs is work better suited to the young -- the ants are born with sharp mandibles perfect for slicing through plants, but eventually, they begin to lose their edge, literally.
(via Stephen Messenger, Porto Alegre, Brazil)
Biologists Discover That Some Ants Eventually Retire : TreeHugger
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