| Atta colombica | |
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| Atta colombica carrying a leaf segment | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Genus: | Atta |
| Species: | A. colombica |
| Binomial name | |
| Atta colombica (Guérin-Méneville, 1844) [1] | |
Atta colombica is one of 47 species of leafcutter ants. This species is part of the Attini tribe (the fungus-growing ants).
Workers of this species are maroon in colour, and are entirely matte, with no shiny spots. [1]
This species ranges from Guatemala to Colombia, [1] [2] and can also be found in Costa Rica. [1]
A. colombica produces visible refuse dumps of spent fungus on the surface. These dumps often take the form of large, conical mounds, and are located to the side of the main soil mounds. Lines of workers carry the spent fungus from the nest to the dumps. They deposit the grayish-white pellets at the peak of the mounds, which produces the conical shape. This behaviour is different from A. cephalotes , which deposit their refuse in subterranean dumps. [1]
The number of workers in a colony is estimated to be 1.0-2.5 million. [3]
A colony of A. colombica harvests, on average, 85–470 kg (187–1,036 lb) of plant biomass per year (dry weight), meaning they harvest a leaf area of about 835–4,550 m2 (8,990–48,980 sq ft) annually. [4] [5] [6]
The average number of different active males in each colony is believed to be less than three. Due to the variation of shared paternity, though, colonies effectively contain two fathers. [7]
Unlike the majority of Atta spp., that respond to colony threats from other ants with many small worker ants, A. colombica appears to recruit majors, or soldiers, for defense. [8]
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their geniculate (elbowed) antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.
Atta is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. It contains at least 17 known species.
Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera Atta and Acromyrmex, within the tribe Attini. 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 to serve as the nutritional substrate for their fungal cultivates.
Fungus-growing ants 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.
The Texas leafcutter ant is a species of fungus-farming ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is found in Texas, Louisiana, and north-eastern Mexico. Other common names include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, cut ant, and night ant. It harvests leaves from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major pest of agricultural and ornamental plants, as it can defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours. Every colony has several queens and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, sandy or loamy soil, and may reach a depth of 6 m (20 ft), have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy 420 m2 (4,500 sq ft).
Weaver ants or green ants are eusocial insects of the Hymenoptera family Formicidae belonging to the tribe Oecophyllini. Weaver ants live in trees and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk. Colonies can be extremely large consisting of more than a hundred nests spanning numerous trees and containing more than half a million workers. Like many other ant species, weaver ants prey on small insects and supplement their diet with carbohydrate-rich honeydew excreted by scale insects (Hemiptera). Weaver ant workers exhibit a clear bimodal size distribution, with almost no overlap between the size of the minor and major workers. The major workers are approximately 8–10 mm (0.31–0.39 in) in length and the minors approximately half the length of the majors. Major workers forage, defend, maintain, and expand the colony whereas minor workers tend to stay within the nests where they care for the brood and 'milk' scale insects in or close to the nests.
Atta sexdens is a species of leafcutter ant belonging to the tribe Attini, native to America, from the southern United States (Texas) to northern Argentina. They are absent from Chile. They cut leaves to provide a substrate for the fungus farms which are their principal source of food. Their societies are among the most complex found in social insects. A. sexdens is an ecologically important species, but also an agricultural pest. Other Atta species, such as Atta texana, Atta cephalotes and others, have similar behavior and ecology.
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. This type of codependency is prevalent among herbivores who rely on plant material for nutrition. The fungus’ ability to convert the plant material into a food source accessible to their host makes them the ideal partner. The leafcutter ant is a well-known example of this symbiosis. Leafcutter ants species can be found in southern South America up to the United States. However, ants are not the only ground-dwelling arthropods which have developed symbioses with fungi. A similar mutualism with fungi is also noted in termites within the subfamily Macrotermitinae which are widely distributed throughout the Old World tropics with the highest diversity in Africa.
Atta laevigata is one of about a dozen species of leafcutter ants in the genus Atta, found from Venezuela and south to Paraguay. This species is one of the largest leafcutter species, and can be recognized by the smooth and shining head of the largest workers in a colony. Atta laevigata is known in northern South America as hormiga culona, or as sikisapa in Peru, zompopo de mayo in Central America, bachaco culón in Venezuela, akango in Paraguay, and chicatana in Mexico. In Brazil they are known as "saúva-cabeça-de-vidro", with saúva being the common name for all Atta ants.
Acromyrmex is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. This genus is found in South America and parts of Central America, México 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.
Atta cephalotes is a species of leafcutter ant in the tribe Attini. A single colony of ants can contain up to 5 million members, and each colony has one queen that can live more than 15 years. The colony comprises different castes, known as "task partitioning", and each caste has a different job to do.
Atta vollenweideri, common name chaco leafcutter ant, is a species of leafcutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta. This species is from one of the two genera of advanced attines within the tribe Attini.
Atta mexicana is a species of leaf-cutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta. This species is from one of the two genera of advanced attines within the tribe Attini.
Atta insularis is a species of leafcutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta endemic to Cuba. This species is from one of the two genera of advanced fungus-growing ants within the tribe Attini.
Acromyrmex insinuator is a social parasite of the closely related Acromyrmex echinatior. This specific parasite is of particular interest as it is an opportunity to study the development of social parasitism in the Attini tribe, and provides further evidence for Emery's rule, which theorizes social parasites among insects tend to be parasites of species or genera to which they are closely related to.
Acromyrmex striatus is a species of the leaf-cutter ants found in the Neotropics.
Nomamyrmex is a genus of army ants in the subfamily Dorylinae. Its two species are distributed in the Neotropics: Nomamyrmex esenbeckii is known from southern United States to northern Argentina, and Nomamyrmex hartigii is known from Mexico to southern Brazil. Nomamyrmex esenbeckii is the only known predator of mature colonies of Atta leaf-cutter ants.
Escovopsis is a genus of seven formally acknowledged parasitic microfungus species that rely on other fungi to be their hosts. This genus formally circumscribed with a single identified species in 1990; in 2013 three other species were added.
Leucocoprinus gongylophorus is a fungus in the family Agaricaceae which is cultivated by certain leafcutter ants. Like other species of fungi cultivated by ants, L. gongylophorus produces gongylidia, nutrient-rich hyphal swellings upon which the ants feed. Production of mushrooms occurs only once ants abandon the nest. L. gongylophorus is farmed by leaf cutter ant species belonging to the genera Atta and Acromyrmex, amongst others.
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