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Ants of Zihuatanejo

FAMILY FORMICIDAE

Chicatana Leafcutter Ants
Atta mexicana

-Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

-Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

-Hexapods (Subphylum Hexapoda)

-Insects (Class Insecta)

-Winged and Once-winged Insects (Subclass Pterygota)

-Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies (Order Hymenoptera)

-Narrow-waisted Wasps, Ants, and Bees (Suborder Apocrita)

-Ants, Bees, and Stinging Wasps (Infraorder Aculeata)

-Superfamily Formicoidea

-Ants (Family Formicidae)

-Myrmicine Ants (Subfamily Myrmicinae)

-Higher Myrmicine Ants (Tribe Attini)

-Fungus-growing Ants (Subtribe Attina)

-Atta Leaf-cutter Ants (Genus Atta)

-Chicatana Leafcutter Ant (Atta mexicana)


The Chicatana Leafcutter Ant (Atta mexicana) is a notable species of leafcutter ant belonging to the genus Atta within the family Formicidae. These ants are recognized for their fascinating behavior of cutting and collecting leaves to cultivate fungus, which serves as their primary food source. Once the leaves are collected, the ants chop them into smaller pieces and use them to cultivate a specific type of fungus. This mutualistic relationship is essential for their survival, as the fungus serves as the primary food source for the colony.



Diet

  • Harvests leaves, flowers, grasses, and other fresh vegetation, but does not eat the plant material directly.

  • Workers use the cut vegetation to cultivate a symbiotic fungus (Leucoagaricus gongylophorus) in underground gardens.

  • The fungus is the colony's primary food source, especially for the larvae and queen, while adult workers feed mainly on nutrient-rich fungal structures and plant sap.

Range

  • Endemic to Mexico, where it is distributed from central Mexico south along the Pacific slope, including Jalisco, Colima, Michoacán, Guerrero, Oaxaca, and Chiapas.

  • Common in suitable habitats throughout the Zihuatanejo region, particularly in tropical dry forests and agricultural areas.

Habitat

  • Found in tropical dry forests, tropical deciduous forests, thorn scrub, secondary forests, forest edges, orchards, plantations, gardens, and agricultural land.

  • Builds extensive underground nests with dozens to hundreds of chambers dedicated to fungus cultivation, brood rearing, and waste disposal.

  • Well-established foraging trails may extend 100–200 m (330–660 ft) from the nest.

Size

  • Worker length: 3–16 mm (0.1–0.6 in), depending on caste.

  • Soldier length: Up to 18 mm (0.7 in).

  • Queen length: 25–30 mm (1.0–1.2 in).

  • Mature colonies may contain 500,000 to over 5 million ants.

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