Hamotus heidiae gen. et sp. nov. A Dorsal habitus of holotype male. B Lateral habitus of holotype male. C Schematic of meso-metaventrite with foveae indicated. LMSF: lateral mesoventral fovea; MMSF: median mesoventral fovea; LMCF: lateral mesocoxal fovea; MMTF: median metaventral fovea. The circular notch of the metaventral apex between metacoxae is indicated. D Aedeagus, lateral view. E Aedeagus, dorsal view

#LiteratureNotice Parker et al. Evolution of leafcutter ant myrmecophiles: #Hamotus heidiae, a new symbiont of Acromyrmex colonies with undetectable hydrocarbons (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae: Pselaphinae) doi.org/10.1007/s000... #Beetle #Beetles #leafcutterants #rovebeetles #symbiosis

WILDLIFE VIDEO (5 min.)

"Leafcutter ants use the leaves to sustain a white fungus that they grow in their nests to help feed them and their young. Follow the ant's path and explore their underground farming grounds."
🐜🌱 #LeafcutterAnts #WildlifeVideo #TerraMater #Nature #Biology #AmazingCritters

Leafcutter ants slow down and lose sensing when carrying heavy loads

Leafcutter ants can lift up to eight times their body weight, but when overloaded they walk up to 50% slower and reduce antenna taps. Read more: getnews.me/leafcutter-ants-slow-dow... #leafcutterants #truckdrivereffect #robotics

New research article! 📰

Porras-Brenes and Amador-Vargas investigated how carrying oversized loads affects leafcutter ants’ antennae-ground tapping 🎒
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#LeafcutterAnts #ForagingBehavior #SensoryEcology #LoadCarrying #AnimalBehavior #Atta #Antennae #ForagingTrail

Marching Leaves in #CostaRica, March 2010. #LeafCutterAnts on the #Forest floor, they can lift 10 times their own body weight. #ForestFriday #Trees #Insects #Photography

New research article! 📰

Farji-Brener et al. found foragers with ≥6 hitchhikers drop leaves more often, but naturally carry ≤5, balancing defense with transport efficiency. ⚖
🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s000...

#SocialInsects #Foraging #EvolutionaryTradeoffs #LeafcutterAnts #Behavior #Atta #AmazonianForest

Catherine Chalmers

The work of #Catherine#Chalmers. Wondrous. If you need a lighter heart today, maybe start here: A whimsical short film of #LeafCutterAnts

#insects #ants #art

www.catherinechalmers.com#/we-rule-vid...

Two leatcutter ants on leaves.

#InsectWeek continues! 🐜 Ants are everywhere and essential. They clean up waste, aerate soil and support entire ecosystems. Check out the amazing #leafcutterants at #Shepreth! They can carry 50x their body weight and use leaf fragments to grow fungus in underground farms. #bugs #ants #weneedinsects

Whatever else may happen in my life, I’m golden; I’ve watched #LeafcutterAnts doing their thing in their native environment. #Bucketlist but I didn’t know that until it was happening to me. Truly mesmerising, fascinating, and actually magical. Who needs god when there’s THIS‽‽

Practicing, sketchy ants🐜🐜🐜

#myart #sketchbook #sketch #pencildrawing #pencil #animeart #anime #manga #mangaart #drawing #drawingoftheday #sketchoftheday #pencilart #insect #insects #bug #bugs #nature #pencildrawing #pencil #ant #muscle #leafcutterants #drawing

Leafcutter ants remember past infections, strengthening colony defenses Leafcutter ants appear to remember past infections and respond more aggressively to familiar threats, according to a new study.

Leafcutter ants remember past infections, strengthening colony defenses: Leafcutter ants appear to remember past infections and respond more aggressively to familiar threats, according to a new study.

#LeafcutterAnts #InsectImmunity #ColonyDefense #Entomology #EarthDotCom #EarthSnap #Earth

More leafcutter ants!

This was during a frightening but fascinating four-day solo trip through the Ecuadorean rainforest:
youtu.be/oFKMtVj9Icc

#nature #naturephotography
#explore
#wilderness #jungle #tropicalrainforest #leafcutterants #insects #insect #insectphotography #ants #bugs #exoticinsects

Winding down the workweek like these little workers! Leaf cutter ants 🍃 🐜 are almost everywhere in Costa Rica if you take a moment to look.

#WildlifePhotography #LeafCutterAnts #MacroPhotography #RainforestWildlife #NatGeoWild #FridayVibes #NatureLovers #InsectPhotography #Bugsky

The Ants Go Marching A journey to California, Costa Rica, and beyond in a celebration of the remarkable, efficient leafcutter ant… by: Marie Gethins At least once a year during my California childhood our home ha…

A journey to California, Costa Rica, and beyond in a celebration of the remarkable, efficient leafcutter ant. “The Ants Go Marching” by Marie Gethins: acrossthemargin.com/the-ants-go-... #Ants #Life #LeafcutterAnts #Nature #Travel #AntsMarching

Taking a stroll at the local park and there is traffic. Not shown is a bat that was flying around catching #insects. #ants #LeafCutterAnts #invertebrates I love it here!

Together: Nature’s Amazing Partnerships Together: Nature’s Amazing Partnerships [Batten, Mary] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Together: Nature’s Amazing Partnerships

Millions of years before humans began farming, leafcutter ants were doing it. They farm fungus in vast underground nests with hundreds of chambers.
#booksky
#writingcommunity
#leafcutterants
#librarians

www.amazon.com/Together-Nat...

Just some #leafcutterants going about their business #ants
youtube.com/shorts/wkQDI...

Atta sp. rainha com o jardim de fungo dela.
#formicidae #antkeeping #leafcutterants #formigacortadeira #insetos #attina #insects #ants #formigas #entomologia #entomology

Mycocepurus sp.
#Attina #leafcutterants #formicidae #formigas #antkeeping #insetos #entomoloh6

Atta sp. Macho
#saúvas #leafcutterants #formigacortadeira #formicidae #insetos #entomology #formigas

quenquen/Acromyrmex sp. é tipo formiga cortadeira só que menor
#formicidae #leafcutterants #formigacortadeira #formigas #entomology #ants #insetos

Mandible elemental composition and mechanical properties from distinct castes of the leafcutter ant Atta laevigata (Attini; Formicidae) | Interface Focus Leafcutter ant colonies are divided into castes with the individuals performing different tasks, based mostly on size. With the mandibles, the small minims care for the brood or the fungus, whereas th...

🐜🦑About teeth in #loligo and #mandibles in #leafcutterants: Check out these two new studies with our LIB researcher Wencke Krings, #MuseumderNaturHamburg just out in the Journa Interface Focus: 👉
doi.org/10.1098/rsfs...
doi.org/10.1098/rsfs...

Old World Underground Do you know the leaf cutter ant? I really hope you do. Th...

What's happening? #LeafCutterAnts are storing #sperm for a decade or longer. That's what's happening! kristinhook.wordpress.com/2014/11/12/old-world-und... #NaBloPoMo