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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 (fungus-growing ants) within the tribe Attini .
The fungus cultivated by the adults is used to feed the ant larvae, and the adult ants feed on leaf sap. The fungus needs the ants to stay alive, and the larvae need the fungus to stay alive, so mutualism is obligatory. The fungi used by the higher attine ants no longer produce spores. These ants fully domesticated their fungal partner 15 ...
If a particular type of leaf is toxic to the fungus, the colony will no longer collect it. The only two other groups of insects that have evolved fungus-based agriculture are ambrosia beetles and termites. The fungus cultivated by the adults is used to feed the ant larvae and the adult ants feed on the leaf sap.
Leafcutter ants live only in South America, Mexico, Central America, and a few select areas of the Southern United States, including Texas.. There are at least 55 distinct species of leaf cutter ...
The sizes of leaf fragments have been found in some studies to vary based on the size of ants due to the ants' anchoring of their hind legs while cutting, [45] [53] though other studies have not found correlations. [54] This is likely because many factors affect how ants cut leaves, including neck flexibility, body axis location, and leg length ...
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:
The use of the term "agriculture", which may not be entirely appropriate for mutualistic relationships—particularly in cases where a colony is hosted by a plant, such as a tree, in exchange for protection and aid in its survival and growth—is well documented in the scientific literature for processes where ants create crops and directly cultivate plants or fungi.
New research shows that ants have been farming fungi for 66 million years — thanks in part to the asteroid that fueled the demise of the dinosaurs. When a massive asteroid wiped out the ...
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