Texas Leafcutter Ant

Polymorphic, workers 1.5–12 mm in the same colony, rusty brown, body covered in spines, with three pairs of dorsal spines on the thorax and a pair on the propodeum. Long-distance foraging trails up to several hundred meters, cleared and packed by traffic, lined with workers carrying green leaf fragments overhead, utterly unmistakable. Surface nest area is a complex of large crater mounds 1–2 ft across.

Mature colonies hold over 2 million workers and a single queen that lives 15+ years. Workers harvest leaves and flowers, return them to underground fungus gardens, and feed only on the fungus. Sustained foraging strips ornamentals, fruit trees, and pine seedlings; a single colony can defoliate a small tree overnight and consume the equivalent of one cow's forage daily on a mature pasture.

Most economically damaging ant in Texas forestry, destroys pine plantations and pecan orchards. Strips roses, citrus, blueberries, ornamentals, and pasture forbs. Mound systems undermine roadways, foundations, and irrigation. Specialized control is required because conventional ant baits are rejected; Atta foragers cut, not consume.

Apply a fluorinated sulfonamide bait (sulfluramid-based Blitz, the registered Atta-specific bait in the U.S.) along active foraging trails on dry mornings. Workers carry bait pellets to fungus gardens and the active ingredient destroys the symbiotic fungus, collapsing the colony in 4–6 weeks. Mound drenches are unreliable because the colony is too deep.

Product names are representative of the active-ingredient class and intended for licensed PMPs. Always read and follow the label; rates, sites, and restrictions vary by formulation and state registration.