The Leaf Cutting Ant is native to North America. It is a member of the genus Atta. Most of the species in this genus live in South or Central America. The Leaf Cutting Ant is the species of ant most commonly kept as pets or displayed in zoos.

A colony of Leaf Cutting Ants can have a million members. The nests can descend into the ground several meters and can be an equal distance across. The colony is made up of one fertile queen, tens of thousands of workers and sterile female. After the damp season, virgin queens and their mates take flight, mate in the air, and the new queen goes off to form a new colony. The queen carries a bit of her home nest's fungal garden with her to the new colony. The mates die after mating, and the females shed their wings and begin to build a new nest. A colony takes about five years to reach maturity. Leaf Cutters get their name by the way they get food. Workers bring leaves back to the nest, where they start fungus gardens to grow the fungus, which makes up their diet.

The Leaf Cutting Ant is the most popular in Butterfly Houses and Zoos around the world. They are also much studied by scientists. They were first exhibited by the Bronx Zoo in 1938. The first permanent display of Leaf Cutting Ants was at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1978.

To keep a colony of Leaf Cutting ants, a large 4x2x2 (minimum) aquarium is required. One will also need an aquarium heater, a 14x14x14-nest tank and two glass tables. To start the colony, put three inches of water in the bottom of the aquarium. Put the heater in the water and set the temperature to 29 degrees Celsius. Fill the nest tank with peat or compost and leave it alone for a couple of days to warm up. This supplies the colony with the correct conditions to grow the fungus they need. Put the glass tables at either end of the aquarium. These are the feeding tables.

Leaf Cutting Ants feed on a variety of plants. They are easy to feed: if you give them something they don't like, they won't eat it. A variety of foods is essential, however, so they can grow all the different kinds of fungus they need.

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