(A Fungus Growing Ant)
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Cyphomyrmex wheeleri,
like Trachymyrmex,
Acromyrmex, and Atta, is a fungus
gardening ant. They carry organic material such as insect droppings and
pieces of plants back to their nest, using the material as a food for
their fungus gardens. The ants then eat the fungus that they cultivate on
the debris. I found these ants on an overcast day at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum. They were foraging in the leaf litter next to the path, and quite difficult to see. They were quite small, perhaps two or three millimeters long. They were carrying the items that you can see the ant at the left carrying, which looks like a seed pod of some kind. |