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

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

A young leafcutter ant queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) with her eggs and incipient fungus garden. Tucson, Arizona, USA

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

A Desert Leafcutter queen (Acromyrmex versicolor) tends to larvae in an incipient fungus garden. Tucson, Arizona, USA

Acromyrmex coronatus, cutting through a leaf. Panamá

Acromyrmex lundii finishes a cut. Correa, Santa Fe, Argentina

An Acromyrmex balzani worker carries a grass stem back to her nest. Leafcutter species tend to specialize on either broadleaf plants or grasses. Entre Rios, Argentina

Acromyrmex sp. nr. crassispinus cutting into an orange peel. Citrus is a favorite target for leafcutters, perhaps because the plants are not native to the Americas and have not yet evolved defenses against the voracious ants. Lagunas de Yala, Jujuy, Argentina

Paratrachymyrmex intermedius

Strictly defined, leafcutter ants that take live vegetation belong to the genera Atta and Acromyrmex. However, several older lineages, including Paratrachymyrmex intermedius, are known to cut leaves occasionally. Armenia, Cayo District, Belize.

Apterostigma collare

One of the most unusual fungus-growing ants hangs its fungus gardens above ground, suspended from the undersidse of lowland rainforest plants. La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.

Apterostigma collare

A peek inside the hanging fungus garden of Apterostigma collare, an agricultural species with the unique habit of farming above ground, on the underside of rainforest leaves. La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.

Apterostigma collare

Inside an ant fungal garden, hyphae grow over the bits of leaves and detritus provided by the ants. La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica.

Apterostigma auriculatum Panama; Laboratory colony at the University of Texas

In a laboratory nest, Atta cephalotes leafcutter ants tend to their fungus garden. University of Wisconsin at Madison