Other Common Names
town ant, cut ant, parasol ant, fungus ant and night ant. Also leafcutter ant and leafcutting ant.
Explanation of Names
"alate" refers to the winged form.
Numbers
Only Atta texana occurs north of Mexico.
Other species occur in the American tropics.
Size
Worker ants range from 1/16 to 1/2 inch long. The queen is about 3/4 inch long.
Habitat
Prefer sandy soils for nesting.
Food
In Texas these ants damage weeds, grasses, plum and peach trees, blackberry bushes and many other fruit, nut and ornamental plants as well as several cereal and forage crops. The ants do not eat the leaf fragments they collect, but take them into their underground nest where they use the material to raise a fungus garden. As the fungus grows, certain parts of it are eaten by the ants and fed to the larvae. This fungus is their only known source of food.
Leaf cutting ants will attack pine trees but ordinarily they do little damage when other green plants are available. During the winter when green plant material is scarce, seedling pines are frequently damaged in parts of east Texas and west central Louisiana. Where ants are abundant, it is almost impossible to establish natural pine reproduction. In such sites, young pine seedlings often are destroyed within a few days unless the ants are controlled before planting.
Remarks
Leaf cutting ants live in large colonies of up to 2 million.
Internet References
Texas Leaf Cutting Ant - Texas Coop Extension
Photo of all castes (note, female reproductive has larger head than male) - Forestry Images
