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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Ants (Formicoidea) » Ants (Formicidae) » Myrmicinae » Attini » Fungus Growing Ants (Attina) » Leaf-cutting Ants (Acromyrmex)

Genus Acromyrmex - Leaf-cutting Ants

Ant Cones - Acromyrmex versicolor Some type of ant in a wash - Acromyrmex versicolor Leafcutter Ant outing Acromyrmex versicolor - Acromyrmex versicolor Desert Leafcutter Ant - Acromyrmex versicolor Atta? - Acromyrmex versicolor Atta? - Acromyrmex versicolor Ant ID? - Acromyrmex versicolor Nest entrance of Acromyrmex versicolor? - Acromyrmex versicolor
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Formicoidea (Ants)
Family Formicidae (Ants)
Subfamily Myrmicinae
Tribe Attini
Subtribe Attina (Fungus Growing Ants)
Genus Acromyrmex (Leaf-cutting Ants)
Explanation of Names
Acromyrmex Mayr 1865
Numbers
more diverse of the two leaf-cutter genera (1), but only the one Acromyrmex sp. in the US (A. Wild, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2017)
Range
New World tropics and subtropics (1), sw US in our area (A. Wild, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2017)
Habitat
desert habitat in the US (A. Wild, pers. comm. to MAQ, 2017)
Food
Agricultural ants: they cut fresh vegetation to feed to a specialized fungus that grows only in ant nests and serves as the ants' food source (1)
The ants have a salivary chitinase that attacks chitin in their fungal food.(2)
Works Cited
1.Wild A. (-2014) Myrmecos
2.The Insects : Structure and Function
R. F. Chapman. 1998. Cambridge University Press.
Contributed by Eric R. Eaton on 6 December, 2005 - 2:32pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, v belov, Marci Hess
Last updated 24 September, 2023 - 9:31am

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