What is a leafcutter ant?
Q: What is a leafcutter ant?
A: Leafcutter ant is the general name for any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants of the two genera Atta and Acromyrmex.
Q: What do leafcutter ants eat?
A: Leafcutter ants "cut and process fresh vegetation (leaves, flowers, and grasses) to serve as nutrition for their fungal cultivars".
Q: Where are leafcutter ants found?
A: These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico and parts of the southern United States.
Q: How are Acromyrmex and Atta ants different?
A: 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.
Q: What is the size of a leafcutter ant colony?
A: Next to humans, leafcutter ants form 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 metres (98 ft) across, with smaller, radiating mounds extending out to a radius of 80 metres (260 ft), taking up 30 to 600 square metres (320 to 6,460 sq ft) and containing eight million individuals.
Q: Where do leafcutter ants build their nests?
A: Leafcutter ants build their nests underground, with a central mound and smaller, radiating mounds that can extend out to a radius of 80 metres.
Q: What is the purpose of the fungal cultivars that leafcutter ants feed?
A: The fungal cultivars serve as nutrition for the leafcutter ants.
