Leaf Cutting Ant Forum

This is the formal definition of Leaf Cutter Ant, from Dictionary.com. Just in case anyone was puzzled about what they had crawling around inside their tanks!

leafcutter ant
/ˈliːfˌkʌtə/
noun
1.
any of various South American ants of the genus Atta that cut pieces of leaves and use them as fertilizer for the fungus on which they feed


Wonder if the people who wrote that definition have every heard of Acromyrmex? What does that make them?

I was under the impression that Acromyrmex was under the Atta genus.

"Acromyrmex is a genus of New World ants of the subfamily Myrmicinae. This genus is found in South America and parts of Central America and the Caribbean Islands, and contains 31 known species. Commonly known as "leafcutter ants" they comprise one of the two genera of advanced attines within the tribe Attini, along with Atta."

Andy, the genus Acromyrmex and Atta are part of the tribe Attini or Attines but are distict Gerus of equal standing. If you say Leaf Cutters all belong to the genus Atta, that is wrong, but they are all Attines.

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Andy, the genus Acromyrmex and Atta are part of the tribe Attini or Attines but are distict Gerus of equal standing. If you say Leaf Cutters all belong to the genus Atta, that is wrong, but they are all Attines.

Andrew is correct of course, Atta is a different genus to Acromyrmex but from the same tribe Attini. Some binomial nomenclature there for you .

Leafcutter wrote:

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Andy, the genus Acromyrmex and Atta are part of the tribe Attini or Attines but are distict Gerus of equal standing. If you say Leaf Cutters all belong to the genus Atta, that is wrong, but they are all Attines.

Andrew is correct of course, Atta is a different genus to Acromyrmex but from the same tribe Attini. Some binomial nomenclature there for you .

Although I hate to disagree with someone who starts their post with the phrase "Andrew is correct of course", I have to say I didnt see any example of Binomial Nomenclature in your reply, Raj. In order to be certain of this I took the liberty of looking up Binomial Nomenclature and came away with this nugget of interpretation.....

binomial nomenclature
noun BIOLOGY
the system of nomenclature in which two terms are used to denote a species of living organism, the first one indicating the genus and the second the specific epithet.

Although I noticed that I also cannot claim complete lilly whiteness in my original comment (I referred to Acros and Attas as 'distict gerus' which I think from memory was supposed to be 'distinct genus') but at least I can point to my mongoloid typing as the cause of my blunder. I think it is a far more egregious sin to use a smart arse biology term and use it wrongly!!!

Acromyrmexbob wrote:

Leafcutter wrote:

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Andy, the genus Acromyrmex and Atta are part of the tribe Attini or Attines but are distict Gerus of equal standing. If you say Leaf Cutters all belong to the genus Atta, that is wrong, but they are all Attines.

Andrew is correct of course, Atta is a different genus to Acromyrmex but from the same tribe Attini. Some binomial nomenclature there for you .

Although I hate to disagree with someone who starts their post with the phrase "Andrew is correct of course", I have to say I didnt see any example of Binomial Nomenclature in your reply, Raj. In order to be certain of this I took the liberty of looking up Binomial Nomenclature and came away with this nugget of interpretation.....

binomial nomenclature
noun BIOLOGY
the system of nomenclature in which two terms are used to denote a species of living organism, the first one indicating the genus and the second the specific epithet.

Although I noticed that I also cannot claim complete lilly whiteness in my original comment (I referred to Acros and Attas as 'distict gerus' which I think from memory was supposed to be 'distinct genus') but at least I can point to my mongoloid typing as the cause of my blunder. I think it is a far more egregious sin to use a smart arse biology term and use it wrongly!!!

Binomial nomenclature is the naming system sir. Tribe is part of the naming. Atta is a genus, therefore part of the binomial nomenclature. Okay here it is from memory:

Domain:
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:

Subfamily and tribe fits into there too.

I can go on...

mmmmh. Think you are not correct there, young padawan. The clue is in the name. Binomial means two names. It is the naming system that is used to identify organisms down to their species name. The normal way it is described is that the Genus is the first part of the Binomial and the species is the second part of the Binomial. Other names used as in the ones you have listed are part of the classification of animals and plants but are not part of the Binomial Nomenclature system. As far as I know anyway. Would welcome being proved wrong on this, I was sooo sure too!

I should try wind you up more often Andrew . Lets drop the phrase "part of" into that original comment.

Acromyrmexbob wrote:Young padawan

I like that reference .

I feel you have turned to the Dark Side.

Acromyrmexbob wrote:I feel you have turned to the Dark Side.

Mistaken you are. Hopefully we won't get murdered for taking this topic on a tangent...Jamie?