Bug FAQHairy-headed leafcutter ant
Atta cephalotes · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae
Also called: Leaf-cutter ant
Atta cephalotes is the hairy-headed leafcutter ant that lives in large underground nests. The colonies spread over about 200 m² on the rainforest floor and farm fungus for food.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The ant known as Atta cephalotes is called the hairy-headed leafcutter ant.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Their nests can reach depths of up to seven metres and are positioned to let breezes remove excess carbon dioxide from the fungal gardens. A colony typically occupies roughly two hundred square metres of rainforest floor.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Workers collect leaf fragments and bring them back to the nest to grow the fungus they eat.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The colony is organized into castes called minims, medias and majors.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
They are found throughout the Neotropical region, from Mexico down to Bolivia, with separate populations in the Amazon and northeastern Brazil.
Source: Wikipedia
Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist
More photos
Questions people ask
What do they eat?
They harvest leaves to cultivate a fungus, which is the sole food source for the colony.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Formicidae)
Eastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your home
Red Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan sting
American Winter AntPrenolepis imparis
Argentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerous
Immigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan sting
Odorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your homeSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atta_cephalotes
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.