Is a leaf cutter a carnivore?

Answer 1

Leaf cutter ants go out to collect pieces of leaves that they cut off, then take what they have collected back to the nest. In the nest special worker ants prepare the leaf to grow a special fungus that grows into little lumps that the ants feed on.

So you can see that what the ants eat is not flesh, but bits of fungus that they grow, much as humans grow mushrooms for food.

So we say that they are not carnivores, but fungivorous or mycophagous, two words that mean the same thing: "fungus-eating".

Answer 2

Yes. The ants cultivate a fungus on leaf sections. The ant larvae eat the fungus, and adult ants feed on leaf sap.

Answer 3

No, leaf cutters are herbivores. They primarily feed on vegetation, specifically leaves, which they use to cultivate fungus for food. They do not consume other animals.