Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species[1] 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.[2] Leafcutter ants can carry twenty times their body weight[3] and cut and process fresh vegetation (leaves, flowers, and grasses) to serve as the nutritional substrate for their fungal cultivates.[4]
Acromyrmex and Atta ants have much in common anatomically; however, the two can be identified by their external differences. Atta ants have three pairs of spines and a smooth exoskeleton on the upper surface of the thorax, while Acromyrmex ants have four pairs and a rough exoskeleton.[5] The exoskeleton itself is covered in a thin layer of mineral coating, composed of rhombohedral crystals that are generated by the ants.[6]
Next to humans, leafcutter ants form some of the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth. In a few years, the central mound of their underground nests can grow to more than 30 m (98 ft) across, with smaller radiating mounds extending out to a radius of 80 m (260 ft), taking up 30 to 600 m2 (320 to 6,460 sq ft) and containing eight million individuals.[2]
^Speight, Martin R.; Watt, Allan D.; Hunter, Mark D. (1999). Ecology of Insects. Blackwell Science. p. 156. ISBN 978-0-86542-745-7..
^ abPiper 2007, pp. 11–13.
^"Leafcutter Ant" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 23, 2018.
^Schultz, T. R.; Brady, S. G. (2008). "Major evolutionary transitions in ant agriculture". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 105 (14): 5435–5440. Bibcode:2008PNAS..105.5435S. doi:10.1073/pnas.0711024105. PMC 2291119. PMID 18362345.
^Hedlund, Kye S. (March 2005). "Diagnoses of the North American: Ant Genera (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)". Archived from the original on August 24, 2007.
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