Workers are highly variable, approximately 4–13 mm long; the queen is much larger and can exceed 25 mm.
Fine-art photographic collection
Atta texana
North America’s native leafcutter, farming fungus beneath deep sandy soils.
About this species
Texas leafcutter ant
Atta texana(Buckley, 1860)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Atta texana is the principal native leafcutter ant of the United States. Colonies harvest leaves and other plant material for underground fungus gardens, regulating tunnel openings to protect the crop’s humid microclimate. Its deep nests may occupy a large area and persist for many years.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Myrmicinae · Attini · Atta
Accepted · checked 2026-07-15
Texas, Louisiana and northeastern MexicoBroad documented localities — not a complete range map.
Eastern and central Texas, western Louisiana and northeastern Mexico, with the densest populations in warm regions with suitable sandy soils.
Open woodland, pine forest, pasture, roadsides and managed landscapes, especially where deep, well-drained sandy soil allows extensive excavation.
Often most active at night or during cooler periods in hot weather. Activity shifts seasonally with temperature and rainfall.
Fresh leaves, flowers and other plant material are carried underground as substrate for the colony’s cultivated fungus.
Colonies normally contain a queen and many thousands to millions of workers. Deep chambers house the fungus gardens, brood and waste systems.
What makes this species remarkable?
The external mound is only a fraction of the structure: fungus chambers can lie metres below ground and lateral tunnels may run far from the centre.
A founding queen carries a small pellet of the ancestral fungus crop, allowing a new colony to begin its own farm.
The species can seriously defoliate young pines and ornamental plants, making it both an ecological engineer and an important regional pest.