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Leafcutter ants are any of at least 55 species [1] [2] [3] of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the three genera Atta, Acromyrmex, and Amoimyrmex, within the tribe Attini. [4] These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and parts of the southern United States. [5]
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.
Acromyrmex versicolor is known as the desert leafcutter ant. A. versicolor is found during the summer months in the Colorado and Sonoran deserts when there is precipitation. They form large, distinctive nest craters that are covered with leaf fragments. Living and dead leaves are collected by workers and used to cultivate fungus gardens. [2]
The ants actively cultivate their fungus on a medium of masticated leaf tissue. This is the sole food of the queen and other colony members that remain in the nest. The mediae also gain subsistence from plant sap they ingest whilst physically cutting out sections of leaf from a variety of plants.
Amoimyrmex striatus is a species of leafcutter ant found in the Neotropics. [2]It is a member of the subfamily Myrmicinae, and within the tribe Attini.As an attine, A. striatus forages for vegetation that will be applied to the fungal garden, typical in all leaf-cutting species. [3]
The fungus eventually lost the ability to produce spores and the ants capitalized on that by making the fungus its main food source. About 66 Mya, South America was isolated from other land masses, and this is when gardening ants started their relationship with a fungus. [ 12 ]
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 ...
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
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