Large Neotropical leaf-cutting ant with extreme worker polymorphism. Minims (3–6 mm) tend the fungus gardens; media workers (7–12 mm) cut and carry leaf fragments; majors/soldiers (13–18 mm) have massive, heart-shaped heads with powerful mandibles for defense and clearing trails. Queens are 22–30 mm, chestnut to dark reddish-brown, with ocelli and wings until mating. Mesosoma armed with several pairs of sharp spines (pronotal/propodeal). Gaster matte; cuticle bears stridulatory file used during leaf-cutting and recruitment. Antennae 12-segmented, geniculate. Colonies build extensive underground nests with dozens to hundreds of crater-like entrances and conspicuous refuse dumps.
Workers 3–18 mm (by caste); queen 22–30 mm; males ~18–22 mm
varies strongly by caste
varies strongly by caste
workers weeks–months; males days after mating
Queens up to 10–15+
Alates (males/queens) mature at eclosion; queens mate once during flight (polyandrous)
Mass nuptial flights at onset of the rainy season (commonly May–July in Costa Rica)
Mature colonies: hundreds of thousands to several million workers; queens lay thousands of eggs per day at peak
Large Neotropical leaf-cutting ant with extreme worker polymorphism. Minims (3–6 mm) tend the fungus gardens; media workers (7–12 mm) cut and carry leaf fragments; majors/soldiers (13–18 mm) have massive, heart-shaped heads with powerful mandibles for defense and clearing trails. Queens are 22–30 mm, chestnut to dark reddish-brown, with ocelli and wings until mating. Mesosoma armed with several pairs of sharp spines (pronotal/propodeal). Gaster matte; cuticle bears stridulatory file used during leaf-cutting and recruitment. Antennae 12-segmented, geniculate. Colonies build extensive underground nests with dozens to hundreds of crater-like entrances and conspicuous refuse dumps.
Humid lowland to premontane forest, also second-growth, agroforestry (cacao, coffee) and gardens from sea level to ~1 500 m. Nests in deep soils beneath forest or pasture, often with large earthen mounds and multiple foraging columns radiating to vegetation.
Fungus-farming herbivore: harvests leaves/flowers to feed the cultivar fungus; the ants consume the fungus, not the leaves directly. Major ecosystem engineers—accelerate nutrient cycling, create soil biopores, and prune vegetation patterns
Superorganism: Single fertile queen (typically monogynous) and highly polymorphic worker castes with pronounced division of labor (gardeners, foragers, soldiers).
Foraging: Mostly nocturnal/crepuscular columns on trunk trails; pheromone highways maintained and cleared by majors.
Communication: Trail pheromones, tactile cues, and stridulation during cutting/transport.
Waste management: Dedicated midden workers isolate contaminated substrate away from gardens.
Their agriculture is >8 million years old, predating human farming by orders of magnitude [5].
A founding queen carries a pellet of fungus in her infrabuccal pocket to seed the new garden (“vertical transmission”) [2].
Workers stridulate while cutting; vibrations may improve cutting efficiency and coordinate handling.
Refuse dumps (“middens”) host distinct decomposer communities and heat up as they compost.
In Costa Rica they are popularly called “zompopas”, and flights of winged queens can be spectacular after first heavy rains.
