Cooperation Beats Selfishness

Leaf cutter ants with leaves (photo from Wikimedia) 12 October 2026 Next to humans, leaf cutter ants form some of the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. — Wikipedia Last week on the WINGS birding tour in Veracruz, Mexico we encountered a long line leaf cutter ants carrying leaves to their nest. It is always fascinating to see how they cooperate. Leaf cutter ants near Laguna de Miradores, Ver. MX, 5 Oct 2026 (video by Kate St. John) Rather than eat the leaves, leaf cutter ants use them to grow their own food — a fungus — inside their underground nests. They work cooperatively to tend the fungus by feeding it freshly cut leaves, flowers or grasses, and removing mold and pests that threaten it. This level of cooperation has made their species very successful. Why do they cooperate? To answer this I’ll paraphrase my blog post of 8 March 2012. While studying ant behavior, E. O. Wilson found that cooperation within a species doesn’t spring up easily but when it happens to…