Leaf-cutting Ants
Uploaded by Admin on Jan 22, 1999
One of the most little known species of ants in North America is the leaf-cutter ant. This is mainly because it lives in tropical environments and it is not aggressive to animals or humans if not disturbed. The leaf cutting ant is a social insect. Alone the ant is virtually helpless but with the colony it can be a thing feared by animal and human alike. The leaf-cutting ants have a very important role in the tropical forest. They create and manipulate the environment around them. They also can do major damage.
The leaf-cutting or fungus-growing ants are distributed from northern Texas to central Argentina. These ants are injurious since they cut the green vegetation from trees, shrubs and crops, and carry it into the nest, where they cultivate fungi on it. They have been known to denude a tree or ornamental plants in one night. It has been estimated they do $1 billion damage per year in North and South America today, these ants still cause millions of dollars in crop losses in many South American countries. Although primarily an agricultural pest, this insect on occasion may invade the home for cereals. In the United States, the Texas leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana , occurs in Texas and Louisiana. This ant is believed to cause a total yearly loss of $5 million in the United States (unison services. 1998).
There are about 9,500 named species of ants. These ants are divided into 16 sub families and 300 genera, all which belong to the family called Formicidae, the family of ants (Hoyt. 1996). The leaf cutting ant belongs to the genus called Atta. There are fifteen different species of Atta and all are limited to the new world (Holldobler & Wilson, 1994).
The leaf-cutter ant looks pretty much like a regular ant in North America except that it is a little bigger than most ants. Looking at the ant in the untrained eye a person usually perceives that it is a primitive organism. Looks can be deceiving. The leaf-cutter ant is a complex superorganism unique social, environmental, and food gathering behavior.
The anatomy of the leaf-cutter ant is pretty simple.
It has a one segment "waist" (pedicel) between thorax and abdomen. Sharp spines on waist and backward from head. Antennae 11-segmented very long and elbowed without distinct club. The legs are very long. This ant can be light to dark reddish brown (Smith....