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Concept
Leafcutter ant
Summary
Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera Atta and Acromyrmex.
These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and parts of the southern United States. Leafcutter ants can carry twenty times their body weight and cut and process fresh vegetation (leaves, flowers, and grasses) to serve as the nutritional substrate for their fungal cultivates.
Acromyrmex and Atta ants have much in common anatomically; however, the two can be identified by their external differences. Atta ants have three pairs of spines and a smooth exoskeleton on the upper surface of the thorax, while Acromyrmex ants have four pairs and a rough exoskeleton. The exoskeleton itself is covered in a thin layer of mineral coating, composed of rhombohedral crystals that are generated by the ants.
Next to humans, leafcutter ants form some of the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. In a few years, the central mound of their underground nests can grow to more than across, with smaller radiating mounds extending out to a radius of , taking up and containing eight million individuals.
Winged females and males leave their respective nests en masse and engage in a nuptial flight known as the revoada (Portuguese) or vuelo nupcial (Spanish). Each female mates with multiple males to collect the 300 million sperm she needs to set up a colony.
Once on the ground, the female loses her wings and searches for a suitable underground lair in which to find her colony. The success rate of these young queens is very low, and only 2.5% will go on to establish a long-lived colony. To start her own fungus garden, the queen stores bits of the parental fungus garden mycelium in her infrabuccal pocket, which is located within her oral cavity. Colonies are generally founded by individual queens haplometrosis.
Official source
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