Editing Texas leafcutter ant

{{short description|Species of ant}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Atta Texana.jpg
| image_caption = Harvesting from a [[catalpa]] tree
| taxon = Atta texana
| authority = [[Samuel Botsford Buckley|Buckley]], 1860
}}

The '''Texas leafcutter ant''' ('''''Atta texana''''') is a species of [[fungus]]-farming [[ant]] in the subfamily [[Myrmicinae]]. It is found in [[Texas]], [[Louisiana]], and north-eastern Mexico.<ref name="Robinson">{{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}}</ref> Other [[common name]]s include '''town ant''', '''parasol ant''', '''fungus ant''', '''cut ant''', and '''night ant'''.  It harvests [[Leaf|leaves]] from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major [[pest (animal)|pest]] of [[Agriculture|agricultural]] and [[ornamental plant]]s,<ref name="AgriLife">{{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}}</ref> as it can defoliate a [[citrus]] tree in less than 24 hours. Every [[Ant colony|colony]] has several [[Queen ant|queens]] and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, [[sand]]y or [[loam]]y [[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}}.<ref name="Robinson"/>

==Description==
Workers measure {{convert|4|to|14|mm|abbr=on}} in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the [[Thorax (insect anatomy)|thorax]] has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color.<ref name="Robinson"/> It should also be mentioned: Its closely related cousin, ''Atta mexicana'' has colonies up to 8 Million, and the queen for ''A. mexicana'' is larger than the ''texana'' queen; however, it should also be mentioned that ''A. mexicana'' is only able to have a single queen, while ''A. texana'' may have multiple queens (Often 2). This makes the species [[Gyne|polygyne]] and because of this trait, ''A. texana'' can form massive super colonies with upwards of 10,000,000 total ants in the colony.<ref>{{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}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==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 flight|nuptial flights]] of ''A. texana'' synchronize in regions; the virgin [[Queen ant|queens]] and males fly at night.<ref>{{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}}</ref> Their foraging type is Mass Recruitment (MR).<ref>{{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}}</ref> The Mass Recruitment foraging type consists of many ants all going out into one big group and searching for food.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

==References==
<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]] | 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 (genus)]]
[[Category:Insects described in 1860]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Southeastern United States|Ant, Texas leafcutter]]
[[Category:Insects of Mexico|Ant, Texas leafcutter]]
[[Category:Hymenoptera of North America]]

{{myrmicinae-stub}}