Fungus-growing ants

Fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) comprise all the known fungus-growing ant species participating in ant–fungus mutualism. They are known for cutting grasses and leaves, carrying them to their colonies' nests, and using them to grow fungus on which they later feed. Their farming habits typically have large effects on their surrounding ecosystem. Many species farm large areas surrounding their colonies and leave walking trails that compress the soil, which can no longer grow plants. Attine colonies commonly have millions of individuals, though some species only house a few hundred. They are the sister group to the subtribe Dacetina. Leafcutter ants, including Atta and Acromyrmex, make up two of the genera. Their cultivars mostly come from the fungal tribe Leucocoprineae of family Agaricaceae. Attine gut microbiota is often not diverse due to their primarily monotonous diets, leaving them at a higher risk than other beings for certain illnesses. They are especially at risk of death if their colony's fungus garden is affected by disease, as it is most often the only food source used for developing larvae. Many species of ants, including several Megalomyrmex, invade fungus-growing ant colonies and either steal from and destroy these fungus gardens, or they live in the nest and take food from the species. Fungus-growing ants are only found in the Western Hemisphere. Some species stretch as far north as the pine barrens in New Jersey, USA (Trachymyrmex septentrionalis) and as far south as the cold deserts in Argentina (several species of Acromyrmex). This New World ant clade is thought to have originated about 60 million years ago in the South American rainforest. This is disputed, though, as they could have possibly evolved in a drier habitat while still learning to domesticate their crops. Early ancestors of attine ants were probably insect predators. They likely began foraging for leaf sections, but then converted their primary food source to the fungus these leaf cuts grew.

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Ant–fungus mutualism

The ant–fungus mutualism is a symbiosis seen between certain ant and fungal species, in which ants actively cultivate fungus much like humans farm crops as a food source. There is only evidence of two instances in which this form of agriculture evolved in ants resulting in a dependence on fungi for food. These instances were the attine ants and some ants that are part of the Megalomyrmex genus. In some species, the ants and fungi are dependent on each other for survival.

Leafcutter ant

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

Acromyrmex is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. This genus is found in South America and parts of Central America and the Caribbean Islands, and contains 33 known species. Commonly known as "leafcutter ants" they comprise one of the two genera of advanced attines within the tribe Attini, along with Atta. Acromyrmex species' hard outer covering, the exoskeleton or cuticle, functions as armour, protection against dangerous solar waves, an attachment base for internal muscles, and to prevent water loss.

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