Summary
Atta texana is a fungus-farming ant species of the genus Atta, found in Texas, Louisiana, and northeastern states of Mexico. Common names include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, Texas leafcutter ant, cut ant, and night ant. It harvests leaves from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major pest of agricultural and ornamental plants, as it can defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours. Every colony has several queens and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, sandy or loamy soil, and may reach a depth of 6 m, have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy 420 m2.
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Description
A. texana workers measure 4 to 14 mm in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the thorax has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color. It should also be mentioned: Its closely-related cousin, Atta mexicana has colonies up to 8 Million, and the queen for A. mexicana is larger than the texana queen; however, it should also be mentioned that A. mexicana is only able to have a single queen, while A. texana may have multiple queens (Often 2)
Behavior
The nuptial flights of A. texana synchronize in regions; the virgin queens and males fly at night.