Atta (genus)
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Atta Fabricius, 1804 - (leaf-cutting ants)
The genus is found in Central and South America and contains around 20 species. They cut pieces of leaves from various plants which are then carried to the nest and used for culturing fungi in their "fungus gardens". The fungus is the actual food of the ants. Some species are serious defoliators of crops. The nests can contain millions of workers.
While there are 3 basic castes, queen, workers and soldiers, there can be also subcastes. For example the small and large workers, with the small workers being mainly involved in fungus gardening and the large workers mainly in cutting and transporting leaf fragments.
The type species is Atta cephalotes.
For details see the respective page in Wikipedia.
The literature database currently contains 200 publications for Atta (genus). Please note that literature records for genera may not be complete. See box above on left for queries from the literature database.
Currently, the following species have been entered into the system:
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