Atta cephalotes: Difference between revisions
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<ref name="Correra_et_al_2005">{{cite journal|last1=Corrêa|first1=M.M.|last2=Bieber|first2=A.G.D.|last3=Wirth|first3=R.|last4=Leal|first4=I.R.|title=Occurrence of ''Atta cephalotes'' (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil|journal=Neotropical Entomology|date=2005|volume=34|issue=4|pages=695–698|doi=10.1590/S1519-566X2005000400023}}</ref> |
<ref name="Correra_et_al_2005">{{cite journal|last1=Corrêa|first1=M.M.|last2=Bieber|first2=A.G.D.|last3=Wirth|first3=R.|last4=Leal|first4=I.R.|title=Occurrence of ''Atta cephalotes'' (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil|journal=Neotropical Entomology|date=2005|volume=34|issue=4|pages=695–698|doi=10.1590/S1519-566X2005000400023}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 18:42, 3 April 2016
 | This article possibly contains original research. (December 2010) |
| Atta cephalotes | |
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| Atta cephalotes worker carrying leaf segment | |
| Scientific classification | |
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| Family: | |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | A. cephalotes
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| Binomial name | |
| Atta cephalotes | |
| Synonyms | |
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Atta cephalotes integrior Forel, 1904 | |
Atta cephalotes is a species of leafcutter ant in the tribe Attini (the fungus-growing ants). 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. The colony comprises different castes, known as 'task partitioning', and each caste has a different job to do.[citation needed]
Taxonomy
The species is one of the earliest formally classified ants, first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 as Formica cephalotes in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae together with sixteen other ant species, all of which he placed in the genus Formica.[2] It was later transferred to a new genus, Atta, along with five other species by Danish zoologist Johan Christian Fabricius in 1804.[3] In 1911, American entomologist William Morton Wheeler designated A. cephalotes as the type species of Atta.[4] It was also designated as the type species of Oecodoma, but the genus is now a synonym of Atta.[5]
The specific name cephalotes is derived from Greek cephalē, "head", in reference to their relatively large heads.[6]
Biology and behaviour
Ants are split into different castes. Soldiers are the largest of the ants and they often stand guard at the entrance of the nest, or will even go on scouting missions to watch for predators. Workers, who are all female, are divided into two types, media and minima, that both have big jaws and sharp teeth. Media workers are the larger of the two, and they cut the leaves and bring them back to the nest. These ants are able to navigate to the source of leaves by following the pheromone scent of the other ants ahead, a process known as ‘tandem running’. Once the media workers have deposited the material into the nest, slightly smaller workers called ‘minima workers’ cut up the leaves into small pieces and then feed it to a fungus they cultivate. They also cover the leaf in antibacterial saliva which stops other types of fungus growing.[citation needed]
A special caste of workers manage the colony's rubbish dump. These ants are excluded from the rest of the colony. If any wander outside the dump, the other ants will kill or force them back. Rubbish workers are often contaminated with disease and toxins, and live only half as long as their peers.[7]
The smaller 'minima' workers feed the entire colony of ants. These minima workers also act as guards and follow the media workers or hitch a ride on the leaf they’re carrying to the source of the leaves and attack small parasitoids called phroid flies.[citation needed]
The queen is larger than the other females and is winged. Her role is to give birth to workers. The females can be workers or soldiers, and cannot produce workers but instead produce males only. Males are also winged, and their only role is to inseminate the virgin queen.[citation needed]
Distribution and habitat
The species is widely distributed in the Neotropical region, from Mexico to Bolivia, with disjunct populations in Amazonas and north-eastern Brazil.[8]
Across the rainforest floor they occupy an area typically an area of approximately 20 feet. They live in nests that can be as deep as 7 metres that they have carefully positioned so that a breeze can rid the nest of the dangerous levels of CO2 given off by the fungus they farm and eat.[citation needed]
Mating
Mating in Atta cephalotes requires flight, which is why the queen and the males are winged. In preparation, the queen will store some fungus in a pouch in her mouth to begin cultivating in her future colony. The process starts with the queen flying up off the ground. The male will then join her and inseminate her, at which point he is no longer needed and dies. The queen will reach the ground and very quickly lose her wings, and will then look for a suitable place to begin a new colony. Once an adequate place is found, she will start digging into the earth and release a bit of the fungus she had previously stored to begin the process of a new underground system.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Species: Atta cephalotes". AntWeb. 2010-06-30. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
- ^ Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I (10th ed.). Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). pp. 579–582.
- ^ Fabricius, J. C. 1804. Systema Piezatorum secundum ordines, genera, species, adjectis synonymis, locis, observationibus, descriptionibus. Brunswick: C. Reichard, p. 421
- ^ Wheeler, W. M. (1911). "A list of the type species of the genera and subgenera of Formicidae". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 21: 157–175. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1911.tb56932.x.
- ^ Swainson, W.; Shuckard, W.E. (1840). On the history and natural arrangement of insects. Vol. 104. London, UK: Longman, Brown, Green & Longman's. p. 174. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.32786. OCLC 4329243.
- ^ Hoyt, Erich (1997). The Earth Dwellers: Adventures in the Land of Ants. Simon and Schuster. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-684-83045-2.
- ^ "Treated like garbage". New Scientist. 2001-01-20. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
- ^ Corrêa, M.M.; Bieber, A.G.D.; Wirth, R.; Leal, I.R. (2005). "Occurrence of Atta cephalotes (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil". Neotropical Entomology. 34 (4): 695–698. doi:10.1590/S1519-566X2005000400023.
External links
Media related to Atta cephalotes at Wikimedia Commons
