''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.

Taxonomy

The species is one of the earliest formally classified ants, first described by Swedish zoologist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

in 1758 as ''Formica cephalotes'' in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' together with 16 other ant species, all of which he placed in the genus ''

Formica ''Formica'' is a genus of ants of the family Formicidae, commonly known as wood ants, mound ants, thatching ants, and field ants. ''Formica'' is the type genus of the Formicidae, and of the subfamily Formicinae. The type species of genus ''For ...

''. It was later transferred to a new genus, '' Atta'', along with five other species by Danish zoologist

Johan Christian Fabricius Johan Christian Fabricius (7 January 1745 – 3 March 1808) was a Danish zoologist, specialising in "Insecta", which at that time included all arthropods: insects, arachnids, crustaceans and others. He was a student of Carl Linnaeus, and is co ...

in 1804. In 1911, American entomologist

William Morton Wheeler William Morton Wheeler (March 19, 1865 – April 19, 1937) was an American entomologist, myrmecologist and Harvard professor. Biography Early life and education William Morton Wheeler was born on March 19, 1865, to parents Julius Morton Wheel ...

designated ''A. cephalotes'' as the

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

of ''Atta''. It was also designated as the type species of ''Oecodoma'', but the genus is now a synonym of ''Atta''.

Biology and behaviour

A special caste of workers manages 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 them or force them back. Rubbish workers are often contaminated with disease and toxins, and live only half as long as their peers.

Distribution and habitat

The species is widely distributed in the

Neotropical The Neotropical realm is one of the eight biogeographic realms constituting Earth's land surface. Physically, it includes the tropical terrestrial ecoregions of the Americas and the entire South American temperate zone. Definition In bioge ...

region, from Mexico to Bolivia, with disjunct populations in Amazonas and north-eastern Brazil. Across the rainforest floor they typically occupy an area of approximately 20 square feet. They live in

nests A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of organic materi ...

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 given off by the fungus they farm and eat.

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1945635 C Hymenoptera of North America Hymenoptera of South America Insects of Central America Hymenoptera of Brazil Insects of Mexico Neotropical realm fauna Ants described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus