The Texas leafcutter ant (''Atta texana'') is a species of fungus-farming ant in the subfamily

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 ...

. It is found in Texas, Louisiana, and north-eastern Mexico. Other

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

s include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, cut ant, and night ant. It harvests

leaves A leaf (plural, : leaves) is any of the principal appendages of a vascular plant plant stem, stem, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", wh ...

from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major

pest Pest or The Pest may refer to: Science and medicine * Pest (organism), an animal or plant deemed to be detrimental to humans or human concerns ** Weed, a plant considered undesirable * Infectious disease, an illness resulting from an infection ** ...

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

and ornamental plants, as it can defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours. Every colony has several queens and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, sandy or

loam Loam (in geology and soil science) is soil composed mostly of sand (particle size > ), silt (particle size > ), and a smaller amount of clay (particle size < ). By weight, its mineral composition is about 40–40–20% concentration of sand–sil ...

y soil, and may reach a depth of , have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy .

Description

Workers measure in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the thorax has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color. It should also be mentioned: Its closely-related cousin, ''Atta mexicana'' has colonies up to 8 Million, and the queen for ''A. mexicana'' is larger than the ''texana'' queen; however, it should also be mentioned that ''A. mexicana'' is only able to have a single queen, while ''A. texana'' may have multiple queens (Often 2)

Behavior

The

nuptial flights 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 mating, mate with males and then l ...

of ''A. texana'' synchronize in regions; the virgin queens and males fly at night.

References

External links

* * Atta (genus) Insects described in 1860 Ant, Texas leafcutter Ant, Texas leafcutter Hymenoptera of North America {{myrmicinae-stub