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 - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Images

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

Tucson, Arizona, USA

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

Panamá

alexwild > Acromyrmex versicolor desert leafcutter ant nest in an urban setting.

Green Valley, Arizona, USA

alexwild > 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

alexwild > The birth of an ant-fungus garden, with newly-laid ant eggs and the early stages of fungal growth. Leaf-cutting ant colonies subsist entirely on their cultivated fungus. (Acromyrmex versicolor)

Tucson, Arizona, USA

alexwild > A young leafcutter ant queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) with her eggs and incipient fungus garden.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

alexwild > Acromyrmex versicolor foundress queens in an incipient fungus garden. This species is normally polygynous during the colony founding stage, but reverts to single-queen colonies after the first workers emerge.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

alexwild > A Desert Leafcutter queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) tends to larvae in an incipient fungus garden.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

alexwild > Acromyrmex coronatus, cutting through a leaf.

Panamá

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

Camera: Canon (Canon Eos 20d) |

More details: exif |

Original size: 3504px x 2336px |

Current: 400px x 267px |

Other sizes: Small • M • L |

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