To Costa Ricans, the leaf-cutter ant can be one of the biggest pests to cause severe agricultural decay in parts of the country. To tourists, a trail of the hard-working red insects can appear as a ...

No pigs or chickens yet. But the vast farms where leaf-cutter ants raise their fungal crops may harbor a crew of previously overlooked farmhands — nitrogen-fixing bacteria. At least eight species of ...

You have to respect leaf-cutter ants. Bit by bit they slice off the leaves of a tree, carrying to distant nests many times their body weight in little green sections along the tropical-forest floor, ...

Few ant species construct cleared trails. Among those that do, leaf-cutting Atta ants build the most prominent networks, with single colonies clearing debris and obstructions from hundreds of meters ...

Scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama discovered that carrying oversized loads limits the ability to perceive the trail in leafcutter ants, akin to blind spots ...

Q: Our hopseed bushes suddenly had no leaves, and we think it is from leaf-cutter ants. We also noticed our palo verde tree near their mound has no leaves. Attached are pictures. There are a few ...

Biologists have found new types of specialized fungal parasites that attack the nests of leaf-cutter ants and their relatives. The discovery could provide clues for controlling the agricultural and ...

When looking for wildlife in Costa Rica, it’s easy to become fixated on the unusual mammals and vibrant birds, but one of the country’s most complex creatures lies underfoot. Living in massive ...

The leaf cutter ant (Atta rodona) is a fungus-growing ant that inhabits tropical regions like Manu. Groups of these ants are often seen at night dismantling area vegetation leaf by leaf. During a ...

Ants are clever critters. They can farm, trap prey, and control traffic with efficient ease, so it’s no surprise that they are also talented problem-solvers. Faced with a restrictive obstacle in the ...

A 15-year study of leaf-cutter ants and their relatives across North and South America found that their nests are susceptible to infection by a diverse group of specialized fungal parasites. The ...