Atta colombica is one of 41 species of leafcutter ant

Leafcutter 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, Central America, Mexico and parts of the southern United States.The Acromyrmex and Atta ants have...

. This species is part of the Attini tribe (the fungus-growing ants

Fungus-growing ants

The fungus-growing ants comprises all the known fungus-growing ant species in the world participating in ant-fungus mutualism. Leafcutter ants, including Atta and Acromyrmex, make up 2 of the genera.-See also:...

).

Description

Workers of this species are maroon in colour, and are entirely matte, with no shiny spots.

Distribution

This species ranges from Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

 to Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, and can also be found in Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

.

Nests

Atta colombica produces visible refuse dumps of spent fungus on the surface. These dumps often take the form of large, conical mounds, and are located to the side of the main soil mounds. Lines of workers carry the spent fungus from the nest to the dumps. They deposit the grayish-white pellets at the peak of the mounds, which produces the conical shape. This behaviour is different from A. cephalotes

Atta cephalotes

Atta cephalotes is one of 41 species of leafcutter ant. This species is part of the Attini tribe . A single colony of ants can contain up to 5 million members, and each colony has one queen that can live more than 15 years...

which deposit their refuse in subterranean dumps.

External links

• Atta colombica minor workers tending to their fungus garden