Details
Atta cephalotes
The leafcutter ant is a highly social forest insect of the Neotropics. Colonies cut leaves and use them to cultivate fungus, fitting its herbivorous data category.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It builds large nests in tropical forest floors and edges. Stable humidity and nearby leafy plants support the colony's fungus gardens.
Workers are about 1-2 cm long and around 1 g. Worker sizes vary, with different forms cutting leaves, carrying loads, or defending the nest.
It is diurnal and lives in colonies. Trails of workers carry leaf fragments, while underground nest work is divided among specialized groups.
It is treated as herbivorous, though the ants mainly eat fungus grown on cut leaves. The leaves serve as the raw material for the fungus garden.
Winged queens and males leave mature nests to mate. A new queen carries fungus and uses it to start a new colony.
Its conservation status is LC. By harvesting plants and turning soil, colonies can strongly shape forest-floor ecology.
