Hairy-headed leafcutter ant
Atta cephalotes
Insecta
UNCOMMON
Stats
- Lifespan
- Up to 15 yrs
- Size
- Medium
- Diet
- Decomposer
- Activity
- Cathemeral
- Social
- Colony
- Biome
- Tropical rainforest
- Range
- Central and South America
- Movement
- Walking
- Breeding
- Egg-laying
- Defense
- Armor
- Status
- Uncommon
About
The hairy-headed leafcutter ant farms its own food — workers strip living plants and haul the fragments underground to cultivate the fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, their colony's sole food source. A mature nest can house millions of workers and extend over 600 square meters beneath the forest floor.
Life cycle
- 1.eggA small egg is laid on or near the larval food source and hatches within days or weeks.
- 2.juvenileAn immature insect feeds and molts, growing through successive instars.
- 3.subadultA near-adult insect has wing buds or near-mature form, one molt away from full size.
- 4.adultFully grown, with full wings and adult coloration.
Learn more
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Arthropoda
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Hymenoptera
- Family
- Formicidae
- Genus
- Atta
- Species
- Atta cephalotes