Figure 1.

The carton tunnels built by Azteca brevis ants. (a) Branches of Tetrathylacium macrophyllum with the black carton tunnels on the lower side. (b) The galleries contain numerous holes with an inner diameter of ca 0.9 mm. (c) SEM picture of a hole in an colonized part of the gallery. (d) A hole overgrown by hyphae in an abandoned part of the gallery. (e–g) The textile fibre tape experiment shows that A. brevis uses fibres from the tape to reconstruct the destroyed gallery (see text for further details).