Abstract
Foraging Ecology of the Leaf-Cutting Ant Acromyrmex Octospinosus in a Costa Rican Rain Forest
Highlights
Leaf-cutting ants (Tribe Attini: Atta spp. and Acromyrmex spp.) show a high degree of worker size polymorphism with an extensive division of labour among size castes (Wilson, 1980a, b)
Foraging is done by medium to large-size workers
the retrieved material as a substrate for growing a specialized type of fungus that the ants use for food
Summary
Leaf-cutting ants (Tribe Attini: Atta spp. and Acromyrmex spp.) show a high degree of worker size polymorphism with an extensive division of labour among size castes (Wilson, 1980a, b). I examined the foraging of Atta cephalotes (L.) at La Selva Biological Station in a Costa Rican rain forest (Wetterer, 1990a, b, 1991, ms). In the present study, conducted in the same forest, I examined the foraging of another common species of leaf-cutting ant, Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich). Laboratory studies have noted numerous differences between Ac. octospinosus and A. cephalotes in substrate selectivity (e.g., Littledyke and Cherrett, 1975, 1978, Howard et al, 1989), but did not relate these to any ecological differences between the species. I compared these data with the findings from my earlier work with A. cephalotes and Manuscript received January 6, 1992
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