List of leafcutter ants

Last updated November 16, 2022

This is a list of leafcutter ants , comprising 42 species from two genera: Atta and Acromyrmex .

Species	Image	Common name	Distribution
Atta bisphaerica
Atta capiguara
Atta cephalotes
Atta colombica			Guatemala to Colombia,^[1] Costa Rica
Atta insularis			Occurs only in Cuba
Atta laevigata		Hormiga culona, bachaco	from Colombia to Paraguay
Atta mexicana			Mexico crossing into Arizona
Atta opaciceps
Atta robusta
Atta saltensis
Atta sexdens			southern United States to northern Argentina
Atta silvai
Atta texana		Town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, Texas leafcutter ant, cut ant, night ant	Texas, Louisiana, northeastern states of Mexico
Atta vollenweideri
Acromyrmex ameliae			southern Brazil
Acromyrmex ambiguus		Quenquém-preto-brilhante	Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay
Acromyrmex aspersus		Quenquém-rajada	southern Brazil and Peru
Acromyrmex balzani			eastern Paraguay and southern Brazil
Acromyrmex coronatus		Quenquém-de-árvore	Guatemala to Brazil and Ecuador
Acromyrmex crassispinus		Quenquém-de-cisco	throughout South America, especially in Argentina and Paraguay
Acromyrmex diasi		Quenquém-mirime, formiga-carregadeira	Brazil
Acromyrmex disciger		Quenquém-mirime, formiga-carregadeira	Paraguay
Acromyrmex fracticornis	$Acromyrmex fracticornis casent0173798 profile 1.jpg$		southern Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina
Acromyrmex heyeri		Formiga-de-monte-vermelha	Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay
Acromyrmex hispidus		Formiga-mineira (A. h. fallax), quenquém-de-cisco-da-Amazônia	southern Brazil and Bolivia
Acromyrmex hystrix		Quenquém-de-cisco-da-Amazônia	Amazon ^[2] and Ecuador.^[3]
Acromyrmex landolti		Boca-de-cisco (A. l. balzani), formiga rapa-rapa (A. l. balzani), formiga-rapa (A. l. balzani), formiga meia-lua (A. l. balzani), formiga-mineira (A. l. fracticornis, A. l. landolti), formiga-mineira-vermelha (A. l. fracticornis, A. l. landolti)
Acromyrmex laticeps		Formiga-mineira (A. l. laticeps), formiga-mineira-vermelha (A. l. laticeps), quenquém-campeira (A. l. migrosetosus)
Acromyrmex lobicornis		Quenquém-de-monte-preta
Acromyrmex lundii		Hormigas jardineras, hormiga negra, formiga-mineira (A. l. pubescens), formiga-mineira-preta, quenquém-mineira (A. l. carli, A. l. lundi); Quenquém mineira-preta (A. l. carli, A. l. lundi)	Brazil, northern Argentina, and Paraguay
Acromyrmex mesopotamicus
Acromyrmex niger		Carieira, quenquém-mineira-da-Amazônia	Brazil, Paraguay
Acromyrmex nigrosetosus
Acromyrmex nobilis		Carieira, quenquém-mineira-da-Amazônia
Acromyrmex octospinosus		Bachaco sabanero, carieira, quenquém-mineira-da-Amazônia	southern Mexico to Panama, across northern South America in Venezuela
Acromyrmex pulvereus
Acromyrmex rugosus		Formiga-quiçaçá (A. r. rochai), saúva (A. r. rugosus), formiga-lavradeira (A. r. rugosus), formiga-mulatinha (A. r. rugosus)
Acromyrmex silvestrii
Acromyrmex striatus		Formiga-de-rodeio, formiga-de-eira
Acromyrmex subterraneus		Quenquém-de-cisco-graúda (A. s. bruneus), quenquém-caiapó-capixaba (A. s. molestans), caiapó (A. s. subterraneus)
Acromyrmex versicolor
Acromyrmex volcanus

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ant</span> Family of insects

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. 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.

Atta texana is a fungus-farming ant species of the genus Atta, found in Texas, Louisiana, and northeastern states of Mexico. Common names include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, Texas leafcutter 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).

Lithodytes is a genus of frogs in the family of Leptodactylidae. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species, Lithodytes lineatus, also commonly known as the gold-striped frog or painted antnest frog. It is found in tropical South America where it lives in humid forests among the leaf litter. These frogs build foam nests at the edge of temporary pools, and the tadpoles develop within these. The frogs also associate with certain leafcutter ants and breed inside their nests without being attacked by the ants.

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 colombica is one of 47 species of leafcutter ants. This species is part of the Attini tribe.

Atta opaciceps is a species of leaf-cutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta.

Atta saltensis is a species of leafcutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta.

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 hystrix is a species of leaf-cutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Acromyrmex.

Atta bisphaerica is a species of leafcutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta.

Atta robusta is a species of leafcutter ant, a New World ant of the subfamily Myrmicinae of the genus Atta.

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.

Attaphila is a genus of cockroaches that live as myrmecophiles in the nests of leaf-cutting ants. They have been suggested to feed on the fungus their host ants farm, or on the cuticular lipids of ant workers. Attaphila are not attacked by host workers because they blend into the colony by mimicking the odour of their hosts ants. Female Attaphila are wingless and males have reduced wings. The cockroaches are phoretic and can disperse to new host colonies by riding on virgin host queens departing on their mating flight and by hitchhiking on leaves carried by leaf-cutter ant foragers returning to their nests, or by following leaf-cutter ant pheromone trails

Leucoagaricus 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.

References

↑ "Species: Atta colombica". AntWeb. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
↑ "Meet Blueboard, Not Your Average Philodendron". Archived from the original on 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-08-22.
↑ Taerum, Stephen J.; Cafaro, Matas J.; Little, Ainslie E. F.; Schultz, Ted R.; Currie, Cameron R. "Low hostpathogen specificity in the leaf-cutting antmicrobe symbiosis". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0431. PMC 2275177 .

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[1] "Species: Atta colombica". AntWeb. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-08-19.

[2] "Meet Blueboard, Not Your Average Philodendron". Archived from the original on 2010-06-16. Retrieved 2010-08-22.

[3] Taerum, Stephen J.; Cafaro, Matas J.; Little, Ainslie E. F.; Schultz, Ted R.; Currie, Cameron R. "Low hostpathogen specificity in the leaf-cutting antmicrobe symbiosis". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0431. PMC 2275177 .

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