A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest. Tucson, Arizona, USA - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography - Insect Pictures

Farming Ants: Leafcutters and Fungus Growers

Hundreds of ant species live as farmers in the warmer regions of North and South America. These insects- a single evolutionary radiation- cultivate an edible fungus fed with bits of vegetative debris, or in the case of the leafcutter ants, with live vegetation.

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Atta cephalotes

Jatun Sacha, Napo, Ecuador

Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants, minor worker riding a leaf.

Maquipucuna reserve, Pichincha, Ecuador

Atta texana

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois

In a remnant of Brazil's once-great Atlantic coastal rainforest, an Acromyrmex disciger leafcutter ant carries a leaf back to her nest. The forest where these ants live has been 95% destroyed by human activities.

Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

Acromyrmex crassispinus

Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil

A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex coronatus. Leafcutter ants slice characteristic circular patterns in vegetation.

Panamá

Acromyrmex versicolor desert leafcutter ant nest in an urban setting.

Green Valley, Arizona, USA

Male leaf-cutting ants (Acromyrmex versicolor) lek above the desert floor, awaiting virgin queens who fly into the swarm to mate. This species flies during the Arizona summer monsoon season, early in the morning after a soaking rain.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

A desert leafcutter, Acromyrmex versicolor, carrying a leaf back to her nest.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Canon EOS 20D |

More details: exif |

Original size: 2193x3180 |

Current: 414x600 |

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Keywords: worker ant attini acromyrmex versicolor leafcutter ant with leaf

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