Where to get leaf cutter ants

The first worker ants will be quite small because of their limited food intake; however these first workers bring back leaf fragments to enlarge the fungus garden, thus providing more food for later broods.

As the colony grows, worker ant size increases and becomes more variable. Individual colonies can exist for years. Where adequate food is available, colonies may expand to contain over 2 million ants. Leaf cutting ant colonies are frequently seen along roadsides, in open fields, in brush land or forestland where soils are deep, well drained sand or loam. They can be quite large, 50 to 80 feet across. Colony size depends on its age and the availability of food. In heavily-infested areas it is difficult to distinguish where one colony ends and another begins.

Each mound has a central entrance hole. Above the underground central nest cavity, several entrance holes will be marked by typical crater shaped mounds and a buildup of soil. On flat land, this buildup of soil is very apparent. With older colonies, this central area is as much as two to three feet higher than surrounding land.

Below ground, the nest consists of several chambers that may reach 15 to 20 feet deep. All chambers are interconnected by narrow tunnels. Vertical tunnels extend to mound openings, and lateral foraging tunnels may lead outward feet away. The complex structure of the cavities and tunnels allow the ants to escape predators underground, and provide an efficient air circulation system.

Coincidentally, the large complex nest structure makes control with insecticides difficult. During the summer, leaf cutting ants forage almost exclusively at night. The rest of the year, foraging takes place during the day, when air temperatures range between 45 to 80 degrees F. Most mound building activities occur during the cool hours of the day. Leaf cutting ants are usually inactive on cold, wet or cloudy days.

On the soil surface leaf cutting ants have clearly defined foraging trails. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.

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It does not store any personal data. Plants contain different compounds, some even fungicidal, that would be toxic to the fungus the leafcutters cultivate, thus not a good choice to bring back to the nest. Interestingly, watching leafcutter ants select some plants over others has led to the discovery of antifungal chemicals and medicinal plants. Leafcutter ants are incredibly strong. Their body distribution and joint strength allow them to carry a weight much greater than they are.

On top of that, they have formidable jaws, and they carry leaves, twigs, and flowers over their head. If a human could lift 50 times our body weight, we would be able to lift a hippopotamus over our head—with only our jaws! Imagine lifting 2 cars over your head—wow!

We know that leafcutter ants are strong — they have super strong jaws and are the weightlifting champions of the insect world. But in a recent publication , a new discovery gives us even more insight into leafcutter ants. One species of leafcutter ant, Acromyrmex echinatior , was recently found to have a special biomineral, similar to dolomite, embedded in its already tough exoskeleton. Made from calcite with high levels of magnesium, it forms a very strong armor all over its body.

Until now, this biomineral has never been found in any other insect; it is known from only one other living creature — found in the powerful teeth of sea urchins. Experiments show that ants with this biomineral acting as armor loses fewer limbs during battles with other ants than other ants without it. Also, it does a good job of fending off fungal infections. While it has only been identified in one species of leafcutter ant so far, there is a good chance that other species have this biomineral in their exoskeleton as well.

Leafcutter ant nests comprise thousands of chambers of different sizes, which are connected by tunnels. When you look at worker ants from the same species, they often appear so different that they seem like they are two different species.

Smaller workers care for the brood and farm the gardens while larger workers forage for leaves and maintain the nest. This polymorphism stems from both environmentally and genetically controlled factors. The obligate co-dependence between the leaf-cutter ant and their fungal crop makes both species precariously susceptible to contamination events with other nearby microbes. How is this relationship maintained when decaying leaves make such a great feast for a multitude of microbes?

Ants are meticulous cleaners when it comes to caring for their crop. They remove debris and pest-infested areas in a process called weeding. Some ants even use separate areas within the nest as a waste dump to keep debris and contaminated portions of leaves or fungus away from their prized fungus gardens.

Figure 3. While leaf-cutter ants like to maintain a tidy abode, they also populate their fungal gardens with fecal droplets. Ants also secrete phenylacetic acid and short-chain fatty acids, both with antimicrobial properties. When the ants tend to their gardens, these secreted molecules are conveniently deposited to keep their crop pest free.