Leafcutter-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 mexicana
Chicatana Leafcutter Ant, Chicatana, Hormiga Podadora de Hoja, Mochomo, Nucú, Nacasmá, Cocosh
Atta mexicana is a leaf-cutting ant and advanced attine fungus-grower native to Mexico and the southwestern United States. The species cultivates the basidiomycete fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus as its primary food source, cutting and collecting leaf fragments to serve as fungal substrate. Colonies are large and complex, with sophisticated caste specialization including queens (~30 mm), workers, and soldiers (~18 mm). The species is culturally significant in Mexico as a traditional food source (chicatana) harvested during nuptial flights, and is also recognized as an agricultural pest in some contexts.
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.