The Atta sexdens
To care for a formicarium, you need to have a general knowledge of the ants that live in there. For example you have to know that the ants don't eat the leaves, but that they feed them to a fungus which can then grow. In return the ants feed from the mycelium of the fungus. They have a symbiotic relation. Without any of that knowledge, you cannot know what to feed them, what temperature and humidity they need and so on.
Necrophoresis
The habit ants and other insects use to remove their dead nestmates is called Necrophoresis. Corpses will either be taken to a random point a certain distance away from the nest or placed in a refuse pile closer to the nest, along with other waste. The removal of corpses carrying infectious disease is crucial to the health of a colony. It is an innate behavior of many different ant species. It’s a hygienic measure against threats that come with keeping a body of a dead ant somewhere near the enclosed nest, for example hostile fungi or just infectious diseases.
Forager size
The leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens is a pest in agriculture and forestry in South America. Single tribes can reach remarkable sizes with very much ants which have to be saturated. In theyr natural habitat, they are exposed to harsh climatic contions and parasitism from several species of phorid flies. This research compared the results of ant mass and leaf fragment mass during daytime and night-time. They found out that the ant mass wasn't significantly different form night-time, but the leaf fragment mass was significantly higher during day time. They found out that the most efficient head size for foragers is between 10 and 20 mg.
Basic informations
Atta sexdens is a remarkable ant species found in South and Central America. They are renowned for their intricate social structure and leaf-cutting abilities. These ants cultivate a special fungus called subphylum Basidiomycota on leaf fragments as their primary food source. Different ant typeshave distinct responsibilities in the highly organized Atta sexdens colonies. The largest and longest-living member of the colony is the queen, who is in charge of producing eggs. While female workers, who are sterile, carry out the majority of colony chores like foraging, nest building, and caring for their offspring, male ants are created at specified times of the year for mating purposes.