Fungus-farming-ant
Guides
Acromyrmex versicolor
Desert Leaf-cutter Ant, Desert Leafcutting Ant
Acromyrmex versicolor is a desert-adapted leafcutter ant found in the Colorado and Sonoran deserts. Colonies exhibit pleometrosis, where multiple queens cooperate to found nests, though typically only one queen survives to establish a mature monogynous colony. Workers collect living and dead leaves to cultivate fungus gardens, the sole food source for the colony. The species is notable for forming large, distinctive nest craters covered with leaf fragments and for its flexible foraging behavior that shifts between diurnal and nocturnal activity depending on temperature.
Atta texana
Texas Leafcutter Ant, Town Ant, Parasol Ant, Fungus Ant, Cut Ant, Night Ant
Atta texana is a fungus-farming leafcutter ant and the northernmost species in the genus Atta, distributed across Texas, Louisiana, and northeastern Mexico. Colonies are large and polygynous, containing several queens and up to several million workers. Foragers harvest leaf material from over 200 plant species to cultivate symbiotic fungus gardens, making this species a significant agricultural and ornamental pest capable of defoliating a citrus tree within 24 hours.
Cyphomyrmex minutus
Minute Fungus-farming Ant
Cyphomyrmex minutus is a species of fungus-farming ant in the tribe Attini, characterized by its small size and specialized cultivation of fungal gardens. The species is native to the Americas and has been documented across a broad geographic range from the United States through Central America to northern South America. Like other members of its genus, it maintains obligate mutualistic relationships with cultivated fungi, which serve as the primary food source for the colony. The species is one of numerous Cyphomyrmex taxa that have been historically understudied due to their cryptic nesting habits and small worker size.
Cyphomyrmex wheeleri
Wheeler's Fungus-farming Ant, fungus gardening ant
Cyphomyrmex wheeleri is a fungus-farming ant species in the family Formicidae, described by Forel in 1900. This species cultivates a diverse array of fungi year-round, including Cladosporium cladosporioides, Fusarium solani, and Nigrospora sphaerica. As a member of the Attini tribe, it represents one of the more derived fungus-growing ants within the genus Cyphomyrmex.
Mycetomoellerius jamaicensis
Jamaican Fungus-farming Ant
Mycetomoellerius jamaicensis is a fungus-farming ant in the tribe Attini, known for cultivating symbiotic fungi as a food source. The species belongs to a genus historically classified under Trachymyrmex but recently recognized as distinct based on molecular and morphological evidence. As with other attine ants, colonies maintain fungal gardens within nests. The species has been documented in the conterminous United States with observations concentrated in the southeastern region.