Determining Which Agricultural Crop would Most Likely Be Selected By Atta Cepholates at Las Cruces Biological Station, Coto Brus, Costa Rica

The leaf cutter ant, Atta cepholates, was studied in a colony near Melissa’s Meadow. These ants have been studied around the world but no not in Las Cruces Biological Station, Costa Rica.  Atta cepholates are members of the Myrmycinae subfamily.  Leaf cutter ants are organized into castes termed minors, minims and majors, all of which all play different roles within the colony. They build the largest nest of all species of leaf cutters. A. cepholates cut leaves of different plants and carry them back to their nest.  They have now found at higher elevations than previously, probably because of deforestation and environmental factors. This project concentrated on whether or not agricultural crops would be targeted by A. cepholates. Using three replicas of agricultural crops like celery, lettuce, tomato, squash, 2 types of coleus, and others, the plants were partially placed on the four trails leading in and out of the colony, (two plants per trail).  Access to the plants in their planters was built with branches, twig and leaves that were placed randomly around them as pathways for the ants. The plants and their damaged leaves were photographed and rated for leaf cutter ant damage every day. The damaged leaves were rated with a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is 0% damage and 10 is 100% damage produced by leaf cutter ants.