Acromyrmex aspersus
| Acromyrmex aspersus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: | Acromyrmex |
| Species: | A. aspersus |
| Binomial name | |
| Acromyrmex aspersus F. Smith, 1858 | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Acromyrmex aspersus is a species of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae found in the wild naturally in southern Brazil and Peru. Commonly known as "leaf-cutter ants", they are a species of ants from one of the two genera of advanced fungus-growing ants within the tribe Attini.[1]
Acromyrmex can be identified from the closely related Atta genus of leafcutter ants by the four pairs of spines and rough exoskeleton on the upper surface of their thorax.
A mature A. aspersus colony contains mostly sterile female workers, divided into castes, based mostly on size and perform different functions. Acromyrmex species exhibit a high degree of biological polymorphism, four castes being present in established colonies - minims (or "garden ants"), minors, mediae, and majors. Majors are also known as soldiers or dinergates. Each caste has a specific function within the colony. Acromyrmex ants are less polymorphic than the other genera of leafcutter ants Atta, meaning comparatively less differential in size exists from the smallest to largest castes of Acromymex. The high degree of polymorphism in this genus is also suggestive of its high degree of advancement.
Like Atta, Acromyrmex subsists mostly on a particular species of fungus (genus Leucocoprinus) which it cultivates on a medium of masticated leaf tissue. This is the sole food of the queen and other colony members that remain in the nest. The mediae gain subsistence from plant sap they ingest whilst physically cutting out sections of leaf from a variety of plants.
Before leaving their parent colonies, winged females take a small section of fungus into their bucchal pouches, with which the subsequently wingless queens 'seed' the fungus gardens of incipient colonies, cutting and collecting the first few sections of leaf themselves.
Acromyrmex has evolved to change food plants constantly, preventing a colony from completely stripping off leaves and thereby killing trees, thus avoiding negative biological feedback on account of their sheer numbers. However, this does not diminish the huge quantities of foliage they harvest.
Subspecies
Acromyrmex aspersus contains these subspecies:
References
- ↑ Bolton, B. 1995b. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 504 pp.