Land Clearing by Atta

[Acromyrmexbob]

There are many types of habitats that different species of Leaf Cutters inhabit. Atta vollenweideri are open country leaf cutters that build their nests out in the open. In heavily forested areas Atta cephalotes tend to have a problem. If the queen lands and forms a colony in heavy vegetation then the sun is unlikely to reach the soil and the colony will be too cool. So A cephalotes seeks out open areas to found their nests. This brings with it a problem in that many are cooked by the sun. Once the colony is big enough the ants start to manipulate their environment in ways reminiscent of us. They actually destroy the vegetation immediately around their nest. They clear the land. You can be walking through a forest of dense trees etc and suddenly come across a clearing the size of a tennis court. The trees are gone, the leaves are stripped from any overhanging branches, the ants have felled or cut or trimmed everything that causes shade in order to get the sun to heat the soil they are living in.
This behaviour means that this ant is perfectly adapted to take advantage of our deforesting of huge tracts of land. Atta cephalotes have never been so successful as they are now, with open spaces becoming more commonplace. A real example of opportunistic exploitation on the back of our uncontrolled destruction of the habitats where they come from.

[Deansie26]

Great post!!