The ideal habitat for leaf-cutting ant queens to build their nests.

Queens of Atta sexdens Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) face biotic and abiotic environmental factors in the environment while establishing their nests. Biotic factors such as predation, microbial pathogens, successful symbiotic fungus regurgitation, excavation effort and abiotic factors such as radiant sunlight, temperature, density, and soil moisture exert selection pressures on ant queens. Biotic factors such as temperature and solar irradiation affect the survival of the initial colony differently, in different environments in the field.

Carbon dioxide levels in initial nests of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

Claustral foundation of nests by Atta sexdens Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) involves great effort by its queens, solely responsible for the cultivation of the fungus and care for her offspring at this stage. The minimum workers, after 4 months, open access to the external environment to foraging plants to cultivate the symbiotic fungus, which decomposes the plant fragments and produces gongilidea nodules as food for the individuals in the colony. Colony gas exchange and decomposition of organic matter in underground ant nests generate carbon dioxide (CO) emitted into the atmosphere.

Nest Architecture and Colony Growth of Grass-Cutting Ants.

grass-cutting ants (Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini) are found in the Cerrado biome and build giant nests with hundreds or thousands of large chambers. We assessed for grass-cutting ants whether the total volume of fungus chambers and other nest parameters grow at close or similar proportions to worker numbers in the colony. Data on fungus garden biomass, population, external area, number of entrance holes, number of fungus chambers, total fungus chambers volume, and nest depth were obtained during colony growth/nest development.

Discovering the Giant Nest Architecture of Grass-Cutting Ants, Atta capiguara (Hymenoptera, Formicidae).

is a grass-cutting ant species frequently found in Cerrado biome. However, little is known about the giant nest architecture of this ant. In this study, we investigated the architecture of three nests from a fragment of Cerrado in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.