Atta (genus)
| Atta | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Queen of A. colombica | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Formicidae |
| Subfamily: | Myrmicinae |
| Tribe: | Attini |
| Genus: |
Atta Fabricius, 1805 |
| Type species | |
|
Atta cephalotes Linnaeus, 1758 |
|
| Diversity | |
| 17 species | |
| Synonyms | |
|
Archeatta Gonçalves, 1942 |
|
Archeatta Gonçalves, 1942
Epiatta Borgmeier, 1950
Neoatta Gonçalves, 1942
Oecodoma Latreille, 1818
Palaeatta Borgmeier, 1950
Atta is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. It contains at least 17 known species.
Leaf-cutter ants are relatively large, rusty red or brown in colour, and have a spiny body and long legs. The three main castes within a nest are the queen, worker and soldier. Only the queens and males have wings, and these ants are also known as 'reproductives' or 'swarmers'. Although most of the ants in the nest are female, only the queens produce eggs. Queens are usually over 20 mm long.
Ants of the genus Atta are leafcutter ants that comprise one of the two genera of leafcutting ants within the tribe Attini, along with Acromyrmex.
Atta is one of the most spectacular of the attines, with colonies that can comprise in excess of one million individuals.
Atta exhibits a high degree of polymorphism, with four castes being present in established colonies: minims (or 'garden ants'), minors, mediae, and majors (also called soldiers or dinergates).
The high degree of polymorphism in this genus is also suggestive of its high degree of advancement. Every caste has a specific function, and some remarkably advanced phenomena have been observed in Atta species. An example of such is the behaviour of the minim ants, which climb on the cut sections of leaf while they are carried back to the nest by the media workers to protect the latter from a particular species of phorid fly that parasitises the leaf-carrying caste. While hitchhiking, the minims also work to decontaminate the fragment before it arrives at the nest, and feed on the sap of the leaf. That the minims behave in this way demonstrates the highly derived character of the species.
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