Why do ants collect sticks, leaves, and other small things and what do they do with them?

Question

I went outside and saw lots of ants just collecting stuff and taking it somewhere in the grass. What could they be doing with it?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Some of them construct their nests out of that stuff, in the US we have carpenter ants that instead of burrowing underground exclusively they make a big mound of plant material that they live in.