''Atta mexicana'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

leaf-cutter ant Leafcutter ants, a non-generic name, are any of 47 species of leaf-chewing ants belonging to the two genera '' Atta'' and ''Acromyrmex''. These species of tropical, fungus-growing ants are all endemic to South and Central America, Mexico, and pa ...

, a

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...

ant of the

subfamily In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus. Standard nomenclature rules end subfamily botanical names with "-oideae", and zoologi ...

Myrmicinae Myrmicinae is a subfamily of ants, with about 140 extant genera; their distribution is cosmopolitan. The pupae lack cocoons. Some species retain a functional sting. The petioles of Myrmicinae consist of two nodes. The nests are permanent and ...

of the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

''Atta''. This species is from one of the two genera of advanced attines (fungus-growing ants) within the tribe Attini.

Description

The queen is approximately 30 mm long, and dark brown. Workers are dark brown, with thorns. Soldiers grow up to 18 mm, and are well-fortified. The ants cut leaves and grow a

basidiomycete Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...

fungus called ''Leucoagaricus gongylophoru''s (

Agaricaceae The Agaricaceae are a family of basidiomycete fungi and include the genus ''Agaricus'', as well as basidiomycetes previously classified in the families Tulostomataceae, Lepiotaceae, and Lycoperdaceae. Taxonomy The family Agaricaceae was publishe ...

) with them.

Oleic acid Oleic acid is a fatty acid that occurs naturally in various animal and vegetable fats and oils. It is an odorless, colorless oil, although commercial samples may be yellowish. In chemical terms, oleic acid is classified as a monounsaturated omega ...

is one of their undertaking triggers.

Distribution

''A. mexicana'' is found in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(where is commonly called hormiga chicatana, hormiga podadora de hoja/''desert ant'' and mochomo), and crosses into

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, United States. This species is highly adaptive, and thrives in such urban areas as

Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...

. Densities of A. mexicana nests are very high in numerous areas, including the resort community of Nuevo Vallarta.

Culinary use

The species is found in various locations of central and southern Mexico during the start of the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * ''T ...

, when the soil becomes wet and the ants leave for their

nuptial flight Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant, termite, and some bee species. It is also observed in some fly species, such as ''Rhamphomyia longicauda''. During the flight, virgin queens mate with males and then land to ...

. That time of the year is the most active for the ''chicatanas'', during which they clean their anthill and create new colonies, becoming very abundant. In

Chiapas Chiapas (; Tzotzil language, Tzotzil and Tzeltal language, Tzeltal: ''Chyapas'' ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Chiapas), is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, ...

, for example, they are harvested from late May to early July. In

Tuxtla Gutiérrez Tuxtla Gutiérrez (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, the most developed and populated in the state. A busy government, commercial and servi ...

, they are known as ''nucú'' and are prepared in a stew with the same name; in Chiapa de Corzo and

Ocosingo Ocosingo is a city and its surrounding municipality (''municipio'') of the same name in the Mexican state of Chiapas. Overview The northeastern boundary of the municipality is the Usumacinta River, along a portion where the river forms the inter ...

they are respectively called ''nacasmá'' and ''cocosh''. They are also widely known in

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

, the mountainous areas of

Guerrero Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...

Guanajuato Guanajuato (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato), is one of the 32 states that make up the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 46 municipalities and its capital city i ...

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

Morelos Morelos (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Morelos ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 36 municipalities and its capital city is Cuer ...

, and

Edomex The State of Mexico ( es, Estado de México; ), officially just Mexico ( es, México), is one of the 32 federal entities of the United Mexican States. Commonly known as Edomex (from ) to distinguish it from the name of the whole country, it is ...

. When consumed as

snack A snack is a small portion of food generally eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at home. Traditionally, snacks are p ...

s (''botanas''), they are uniquely fried with olive oil or toasted on a

comal COMAL (''Common Algorithmic Language'') is a computer programming language developed in Denmark by Børge R. Christensen and Benedict Løfstedt and originally released in 1975. COMAL was one of the few structured programming languages that was a ...

, usually with salt, lemon, and

hot sauce Hot sauce is a type of condiment, seasoning, or salsa made from chili peppers and other ingredients. Many commercial varieties of mass-produced hot sauce exist. History Humans have used chili peppers and other hot spices for thousands of years ...

, and traditionally accompany the

Pox Pox may refer to: Diseases *Poxviridae, a family of viruses *Buffalopox, a disease of buffaloes *Camelpox, a disease of camels *Canarypox, a disease of wild and captive birds *Chickenpox, a highly contagious illness caused by a primary infection ...

. They are also fried in

taco A taco (, , ) is a traditional Mexican food consisting of a small hand-sized corn- or wheat-based tortilla topped with a filling. The tortilla is then folded around the filling and eaten by hand. A taco can be made with a variety of filling ...

s. In

Maya Maya may refer to: Civilizations * Maya peoples, of southern Mexico and northern Central America ** Maya civilization, the historical civilization of the Maya peoples ** Maya language, the languages of the Maya peoples * Maya (Ethiopia), a populat ...

regions, they are stewed in '' chilmole''. In

Mixtec The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerrero. The Mixtec Culture wa ...

tradition, they are the main ingredient of a sauce called ''salsa de chicatanas'', which is also prepared with

chili pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for ...

, onion and garlic and smeared on cooked meat or cheese ''

tortilla A tortilla (, ) is a thin, circular unleavened flatbread originally made from maize hominy meal, and now also from wheat flour. The Aztecs and other Nahuatl speakers called tortillas ''tlaxcalli'' (). First made by the indigenous peoples of Me ...

s''. There are several variations of that sauce, such as the one prepared with

chile de árbol The Chile de árbol (Spanish for ''tree chili'' is a small and potent Mexican chili pepper also known as bird's beak chile and rat's tail chile. These chilis are about long, and in diameter. Their heat index is between 15,000 and 30,000 Scovill ...

by the

Zoque people The Zoque are an indigenous people of Mexico. They speak variants of the Zoque languages. This group consists of 41,609 people, according to the 2000 census. They live mainly in the northerly sector of Chiapas state, principally in the ''municipios ...

Jamiltepec Santiago Jamiltepec (Mixtec: Casandoo) is a town, and the seat of surrounding municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Jamiltepec District in the west of the Costa Chica Region, 30 km east of Pinote ...

, the one made with coastal chili in

Pinotepa Nacional Pinotepa Nacional (formally: Santiago Pinotepa Nacional; in Mixtec, ''Ñuu Ñoko'', which means Twenty-House Town) is a city and seat of the municipality of the same name, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the Jamiltepec District in ...

, and one prepared with

guajillo chili A guajillo chili or guajillo chile or chile guaco ( es, chile guajillo) is the dried form of the mirasol chili, a landrace variety of chile pepper of the species ''Capsicum annuum.'' Guajillos are the second-most commonly used dried chili in Mex ...

in the Mixteca Poblana. In Veracruz, they are included in a '' pipián'' called '' tlatonile''.

Gallery

File:Formicidae - Atta mexicana.JPG, Workers of ''Atta mexicana'' at

Montreal Insectarium The Montreal Insectarium (french: link=no, Insectarium de Montréal) is a natural history museum located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, featuring a large quantity of insects from all around the world. It is the largest insect museum in North America ...

File:Formicidae - Atta mexicana-3.JPG, ''Atta mexicana'' at

File:Atta mexicana casent0421377 profile 1.jpg, Profile view of ant ''Atta mexicana'' File:Atta mexicana casent0421379 head 1.jpg, Head view of a soldier ant of ''Atta mexicana'' File:Atta mexicana casent0421377 dorsal 1.jpg, Dorsal view of worker ant of ''Atta mexicana''

References

External links

Images
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1952491 Atta (genus) Insects described in 1858 Hymenoptera of North America Edible insects