Leaf-cutter ant
Amazing fact
A leaf-cutter ant queen places a piece of fungus garden from her old colony in her new nest.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
A leaf-cutter ant queen places a piece of fungus garden from her old colony in her new nest.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Leaf-cutter ant
- Scientific name
- Atta sexdens
- Japanese name
- ハキリアリ
- Group
- Insects
- Class
- Insecta
- Order
- Hymenoptera
- Family
- Formicidae
- Genus
- Atta
An ant of Central and South America. A queen and her children, the workers, live together in the same nest.
All the workers are female and come in many sizes. They lay no eggs, but care for the fungus garden and the young.
It carries cut pieces of leaves to its nest and uses them to grow fungus, which it eats.
How the Leaf-cutter ant lives
Foraging workers follow chemical trails left by scouts to reach a tree. Leaves brought into the nest get a drop of liquid from the anus, which acts as fertilizer for the fungus. Some workers inside the nest dispose of rubbish and rebuild fungus gardens. Some workers dig new nest chambers or reopen old ones that have collapsed.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Body length: females 3–18 mm, females 25 mm, males 25 mmLength: 3–24 mm多摩動物公園University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Lifespan
- 10–15 years in the wildUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Symbiotic fungi多摩動物公園
- Range
- Central and South America多摩動物公園
Where the Leaf-cutter ant has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- ハキリアリ
- 简体中文
- 六刺芭切叶蚁
- 繁體中文
- 六刺芭切葉蟻
- Español
- Curuhuinsi
- Português (Brasil)
- Formiga cortadeira
- Türkçe
- Yaprak Kesici Karınca
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 多摩動物公園 — ハキリアリChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Atta sexdensChecked: 2026-11-03
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeWhen you meet the Leaf-cutter ant, look for this
- Look for workers with large heads, which defend the nest against enemies.
Animals do different things from day to day, so you may not always see this.
多摩動物公園EXHIBIT INFORMATION
Places that keep or show the Leaf-cutter ant
Zoos, aquariums and other places whose official websites say they keep or show this animal.
Kanto
Displays can change with the animals’ health and the seasons. Check each facility’s official website before you go.
RELATIVES
Others in Formicidae
MORE TO MEET
