Leafcutter Ants are neutral mobs that can be found within Leafcutter Anthills in Jungles.
Behavior[]
Leafcutter Ants will fight back if the player attacks one or if an entity stomps on or destroys their Leafcutter Anthill.
There are two types of Leafcutter Ant:
- Workers are the common small ants that are often seen leaving their colony to collect Leaves before bringing them back. These Leafcutter Ants are capable of climbing on the sides of blocks.
- Queens are a large Leafcutter Ant that controls a colony. They can only appear if a player stomps on an occupied Leafcutter Anthill.
Leafcutter Ants can sometimes be seen getting attacked by Anteaters.
Colonies[]
Leafcutter Ants can be found as colonies inside naturally generating Leafcutter Anthills.
All colonies are led by a single Leafcutter Ant Queen who will remain inside the Leafcutter Anthill unless it is destroyed or stomped on. Only a maximum of 25 Leafcutter Ants can be inside a Leafcutter Anthill.
Leafcutter Ant Workers will frequently leave the Leafcutter Anthill to collect a single Leaf from the nearest Leaf Block. The workers will carry this Leaf in their jaws before entering their Leafcutter Anthill to supply it with food. There is a 2% chance that the Leaf Block will be destroyed upon a harvest.
If 5 Leaves are successfully harvested while a Leafcutter Ant Queen is inside the Leafcutter Anthill, there is a chance that a new Leafcutter Ant Worker will join the colony. Colonies can only have a maximum of 10 Leafcutter Ant Workers.
Upon a successful Leaf harvest, the Leafcutter Ant Chambers below have a chance spread into nearby Dirt Blocks (as long as those blocks are covered by the sunlight) and will also grow Gongylidia. If a Maned Wolf that is secreting its smell is nearby, the Gongylidia growth rate will be increased temporarily. To harvest this Gongylidia, a Shroomlight needs to be placed next to a fully-grown Leafcutter Ant Chamber with a Gongylidia secretion before right-clicking; if the Shroomlight isn't nearby then all nearby Leafcutter Ant Workers will attack.
A Leafcutter Ant can be fed Gongylidia to heal it from damage and can also be fed to Leafcutter Ant Queens to both heal them and increase the Leafcutter Ant Workers in the colony by 1. Feeding a Leafcutter Ant some Gongylidia will additionally make all nearby Leafcutter Ants passive towards their feeder.
A new colony can be started if the player uses a Leafcutter Ant Pupa on two Dirt or Grass Blocks placed on top of each other.
Related Advancements[]
| Advancement | In-game Description | Parent | Actual Requirements | ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ant-Agonizer | Stomp on a Leafcutter Anthill - beware the angry denizens within! | Alex's Mobs | Same as description | alexsmobs stomp_leafcutter_anthill |
Trivia[]
- For some reason, Leafcutter Ant Queens make completely different noises to Leafcutter Ant Workers.
Gallery[]
| Animal Dictionary Entry |
|---|
| "Leafcutter Ants are diminutive little insects that can often be seen tearing Leaves from trees in Jungle biomes. They form massive colonies of up to twenty ants. There are two forms of Leafcutter Ant - Workers, who harvest Leaves and can be seen outside the Anthill, and Queens, which can only be summoned by stomping on an Anthill. Queens are much larger and stronger than a worker, and there is usually only one per colony. With a Queen present in an Anthill, there is a chance for every 5 Leaves harvested to create another Worker Ant, while the hill has less than 10 ants. Without a queen, Anthills are unable to repopulate. These colonies are much larger than they appear - under the mound there is a network of Leafcutter Ant Chambers, large blocks which are used by the ants to convert their Leaves into fungi. These chamber blocks will convert to dirt if under sunlight, however they can spread to adjacent dirt blocks when harvested. This fungi is called Gongylidia, and it is the only thing the ants are capable of farming and eating. Apart from its uses to the ants, it can also be eaten, although it may not have much nutritional value, it has a great deal of saturation. Gongylidia can be obtained by interacting with a fungal-covered chamber block underground, but beware: Unless there is a Shroomlight nearby, the ants of the colony will become hostile. The fungi can be fed to ants to heal them, and to the Queen in order to bolster the number of ants in the colony. Gongylidia can also be fed to an ant to pacify all the ants in the nearby area. If a chamber block is broken, there is a rare chance that it may drop a Leafcutter Ant Pupa, which can be used on Dirt or Grass to create a new colony." |
