Visitors to Stratford Butterfly Farm will have the chance to witness one of nature’s most impressive displays this February half-term, as its colony of Leaf-Cutter ants returns to public view along a specially constructed 25-meter aerial walkway.

The Atta Cephalotes colony, which arrived at the farm last August, has been settling into their new environment in the Minibeast Metropolis exhibition. These remarkable insects, originally from Southern Mexico to Bolivia, can carry loads ten times their body weight and form colonies of up to ten million workers under a single queen.

“Visitors can watch these amazing ants march high above on their rope walkway as they carry leaves back to their colony,” says Jane Kendrick, Marketing Manager at the Butterfly Farm. The farm’s team has spent weeks preparing the ants’ new home, creating overhead ropework and laying trails of honeysuckle and privet to guide them.

The half-term attractions also include a new addition to the Minibeast Metropolis – the exotic Orchid Mantis from Southeast Asia. These remarkable creatures camouflage themselves on orchid flowers to ambush nectar-seeking insects, though visitors might be startled to learn that females sometimes eat their male counterparts during mating!

Daily Mini-Beast handling and Butterfly Life-cycle demonstrations will run at 11:00am throughout the half-term week (February 15-23). The farm is open daily from 10am to 5pm, offering visitors the chance to see hundreds of tropical butterflies, insects, reptiles, and spiders in a lush, climate-controlled environment.

The facility suggests booking in advance through their website, particularly during the busy half-term period, and reminds visitors that last entry is at 4pm daily.