A queen Atta texana Texas leafcutter ant sits amid her much smaller daughters in the fungus garden. Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography

Atta

is the most conspicuous leaf-cutting ant of the new world tropics and subtropics. These large, spiny insects are farmers- they use freshly cut vegetation to cultivate a fungus in subterranean gardens. Colonies are among the most complex insect societies known: nests can persist for decades and contain over a million individuals.

gallery pages: << < 4 5 6 7 8 9 >

< 68 of 77 >

Texas Leafcutter Ants (Atta texana)

Austin, Texas, USA

Atta texana, the Texas Leafcutter Ant.

Austin, Texas, USA

Atta texana

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois

A queen Atta texana Texas leafcutter ant sits amid her much smaller daughters in the fungus garden.

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Atta texana Texas leafcutter ant, queen and workers in the fungus garden. In addition to the massize size difference between the mother queen and her daughters, note the difference in size among workers, each specialized for a different task in the nest.

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Atta texana leafcutter ant queen in the fungus garden.

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ventillation tunnels on a mound of the chaco leafcutter ant Atta vollenweideri.

Resistencia, Chaco, Argentina

A queen Atta texana Texas leafcutter ant sits amid her much smaller daughters in the fungus garden.

Laboratory colony at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Canon EOS 7D |

More details: exif |

Original size: 3314x4559 |

Current: 436x600 |

Share photo: links, forums, blogs |

Keywords: atta queen ant eusocial gyne social insects eusociality hormiga culona

gallery pages: << < 4 5 6 7 8 9 >

< 68 of 77 >

Atta

Comments