# Texas leafcutter ant > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Texas_leafcutter_ant > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Texas_leafcutter_ant.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_leafcutter_ant > Source revision: 1338716592 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|Species of ant}} {{Speciesbox | image = Atta Texana.jpg | image_caption = Harvesting from a [catalpa](/source/catalpa) tree | taxon = Atta texana | authority = [Buckley](/source/Samuel_Botsford_Buckley), 1860 }} The '''Texas leafcutter ant''' ('''''Atta texana''''') is a species of [fungus](/source/fungus)-farming [ant](/source/ant) in the subfamily [Myrmicinae](/source/Myrmicinae). It is found in [Texas](/source/Texas), [Louisiana](/source/Louisiana), and north-eastern Mexico.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aluUgDVYJ8wC |title=Handbook of Urban Insects and Arachnids |first=William H. |last=Robinson |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-521-81253-5 |pages=238–239}} Other [common name](/source/common_name)s include '''town ant''', '''parasol ant''', '''fungus ant''', '''cut ant''', and '''night ant'''. It harvests [leaves](/source/Leaf) from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major [pest](/source/pest_(animal)) of [agricultural](/source/Agriculture) and [ornamental plant](/source/ornamental_plant)s,{{cite web |url=http://citybugs.tamu.edu/FastSheets/Ent-1029.html |title=Texas Leaf Cutting Ant |work=Insects in the City |publisher=Texas AgriLife Extension |date=2006-08-30 |accessdate=2010-01-04 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015211736/http://citybugs.tamu.edu/FastSheets/Ent-1029.html |archivedate=October 15, 2008}} as it can defoliate a [citrus](/source/citrus) tree in less than 24 hours. Every [colony](/source/Ant_colony) has several [queens](/source/Queen_ant) and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, [sand](/source/sand)y or [loam](/source/loam)y [soil](/source/soil), and may reach a depth of {{convert|6|m|ft|abbr=on}}, have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy {{convert|420|m2|ft2|abbr=on}}. ==Description== Workers measure {{convert|4|to|14|mm|abbr=on}} in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the [thorax](/source/Thorax_(insect_anatomy)) has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color. Its closely related cousin, ''Atta mexicana'' has colonies up to 8 million, and the queen for ''A. mexicana'' is larger than the ''M. texana'' queen. ''Atta mexicana'' is only able to have a single queen, while ''A. texana'' may have multiple queens (often 2). This makes the species [polygyne](/source/Gyne) and because of this trait, ''A. texana'' can form massive super colonies with upwards of 10,000,000 total ants in the colony.{{cite web |last1=Beckers |first1=R |last2=Goss |first2=S |last3=DENEUBOURG |first3=J.L. |last4=PASTEELS |first4=J.M. |title=COLONY SIZE, COMMUNICATION AND ANT FORAGING STRATEGY* |url=https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/d/d8/Beckers,_R.,_Goss,_S._et_al._1898._Colony_size,_communication_and_ant_foraging_strategy.pdf |website=Antwiki.org |publisher=University Libre de Bruxelles |access-date=10 August 2023}} Because of the massive super colonies that they can form, they have been known to cause issues in the local environment and have been a troubling pest for humans living nearby these super colonies.{{cite web |last1=Walter |first1=E.V. |last2=Seaton |first2=Lee |last3=Mathewson |first3=A.A |title=The Texas leaf-cutting ant and its control |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uiug.30112019272258&seq=3 |website=Hathitrust.org |publisher=university of illinois urbana champaign |access-date=10 August 2023}} ==Life cycle== {{inline citations needed|section|date=March 2025}} The queen ant will deposit eggs that then hatch into cream-colored larvae. Fully developed {{convert|1/4|to|1/2|in|cm|adj=mid|-long}} larvae form pupae. In the spring, some larvae develop into larger ({{convert|3/4|in|cm|disp=or}}) winged male and female ants, called reproductives. Males have much smaller heads than do females and both have long smoky black wings.{{citation needed|date=March 2025}} == Behavior == The [nuptial flights](/source/Nuptial_flight) of ''A. texana'' synchronize in regions; the virgin [queens](/source/Queen_ant) and males fly at night.{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/superorganismbea0000hlld|url-access=registration|title=The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies|last1=Hölldobler|first1=Bert|last2=Holldobler|first2=Foundation Professor of Biology Bert|last3=Wilson|first3=Honorary Curator in Entomology and University Research Professor Emeritus Edward O.|last4=Wilson|first4=Edward O.|date=2009|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=9780393067040|language=en}} Their foraging type is Mass Recruitment (MR).{{cite web |last1=Beckers |first1=R |last2=Goss |first2=S |last3=DENEUBOURG |first3=J.L. |last4=PASTEELS |first4=J.M. |title=COLONY SIZE, COMMUNICATION AND ANT FORAGING STRATEGY* |url=https://www.antwiki.org/wiki/images/d/d8/Beckers,_R.,_Goss,_S._et_al._1898._Colony_size,_communication_and_ant_foraging_strategy.pdf |website=Antwiki.org |publisher=University Libre de Bruxelles |access-date=10 August 2023}} The Mass Recruitment foraging type consists of many ants all going out into one big group and searching for food.{{cite web |last1=Reznikova |first1=Zhanna |title=Ants' Personality and Its Dependence on Foraging Styles: Research Perspectives |url=https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Four-main-categories-of-recruitment-strategy-in-ants-mass-recruitment-tandem-running_fig1_351813840 |website=Researchgate.net |publisher=Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals |access-date=10 August 2023}} ==References== * {{cite book |title=National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Insects and Spiders & Related Species of North America |first=Arthur V |last=Evans |publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-4027-4153-1 |chapter=Ants, Bees, and Wasps: Order Hymenoptera |page=380}} ==External links== * {{cite web | title=Texas Leaf Cutting Ant | website=Insects in the City | date=2019-03-21 | url=http://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/landscape/ants/ent-1002/ | access-date=2021-07-19}} * {{cite web | title=Texas Leaf Cutting Ant, ''Atta texana'' | website=Urban and Structural Entomology Program at [Texas A&M University](/source/Texas_A%26M_University) | date=2013-12-05 | url=http://urbanentomology.tamu.edu/urban-pests/ants/leaf_cutting/ | access-date=2022-01-19}} {{Wikispecies|Atta texana}} {{Commons category|Atta texana}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q1942945}} Category:Atta (ant) Category:Insects described in 1860 Ant, Texas leafcutter Ant, Texas leafcutter Category:Hymenoptera of North America {{myrmicinae-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Texas leafcutter ant](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_leafcutter_ant) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_leafcutter_ant?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.