Atta texanaSpecies Introduction
Claustral. Founding chamber must be very humid to accommodate the fungus. After digging their founding chamber in the wild, the queen regurgitates her fungal pellet from her infrabuccal pouch. She then grows the fungus garden off of her energy reserves until nanitics arrive.
Native to the South-Central US. Prefers sandy, well-draining soils to dig their nest in. Mature colonies reach thousands of workers. Most often active from dusk throughout dawn in the summer while being active during daytime in the winter when warm enough. Most wild populations in the colder climates, diapause in the winter and are only active during the daytime while not diapausing.
Relatively high-strung. They need quite a difficult combination of food, conditions, and stability.
Formicarium
Substrate nests or petri-dish style nests. A secure nest and a fluon barrier for the outworld is recommended due to extremely large colony sizes, and foraging behaviors.
Water & Humidity
High humidity that is consistently high (95%+). These are fungus-farmers. While the ants may be more capable of tolerating dry conditions, their fungus is not. It will quickly perish if humidity drops too low.
TJL PVA sponges are not currently compatible for founding Atta colonies.
Water-only liquid feeder in outworld highly recommended.
Plant Material
These ants get all of their nutrition from whatever plant material they are able to scavenge.
These ants will cut leaves. However, when the colony is small, they prefer to gather small pieces of plant material that they don't need to cut. If you're not sure where to start, we suggest our TJL Fungus-Farmer diet.
Primarily use sliced, organic apple or orange (outer peel removed).
Twice per week
Maintenance
Week 1: Extremely humid nest, just let your queen do her thing.
Weeks 4–8: First workers appear. Continue feeding regularly while increasing portions.
Months 2+: Your colony is continuing to grow their garden and all is well. Keep their nest hydrated and provide ample food in the foraging area!
A. texana from most of their range diapause.
Care Summary
- Extremely humid nest
- Give fresh leaves, petals, etc. once the colony is large enough
- Moderate temps 68-80°F