Texas leafcutting ants

Texas leafcutting ants, Atta texana, are a native Texas species that create large, extensive colonies. Colonies often have multiple volcano or crater-shaped mounds with a central opening clustered in a single area.  Leafcutting ant mounds (see image) can be mistaken for fire ant mounds, but fire ant mounds do NOT have a centralized opening.

Workers are the most commonly seen leafcutting ants, but in spring it is possible to see reproductives, or swarmers.  Workers (see image) are medium to large ants, reddish-brown in color and have three pairs of spines on the thorax and one pair of spines on the back of the head.  Workers come in various sizes but can be up to ½ an inch long.  Reproductives look similar to worker ants but are much larger in size, with females being over an inch long. Mated queens have a special area within their mouth to carry fungal spores used to create a fungus garden in their newly founded nest.

Leafcutting ants typically forage when temperatures are cooler.  During this time of year, that can have them out in the middle of the day, but during the summer they tend to forage at night or in the morning. Workers remove leaves and buds from plants in the landscape; they then chew the plant material and get some nutrition from sap, but mainly place chewed leaves in an underground garden within their colony.  The chewed plant material is a base to grow fungus which the ants eat. Leafcutting ants tend a particular species of fungus and weed out any other fungus from their garden.

Colonies (see image) may exist for years and can exceed over two million ants.  It is not unusual for a single colony to cover an acre of land.  Colonies are usually found in well drained, sandy or loamy soils and are more common in Central to East Texas than other parts of the state.

Unfortunately, leafcutting ants can be difficult to manage, and almost impossible to eradicate completely.  Prized plants can be temporarily protected by using spray adhesives around the base of the plant, but adhesives need to be refreshed often when dirt and/or debris accumulates.  Temporary protection can also be provided to prized plants by utilizing contact insecticidal sprays or dusts labeled for “ants”.  These insecticidal products can also be used along foraging trails and openings where the ants go into the ground.  If mounds are present, Amdro Ant Block, which is the only product labeled for use against leafcutting ants, can be broadcast with a hand-held spreader around the mound area.  Do not use ant bait and residual dusts and/or sprays in the same area since pesticidal dusts and sprays will contaminate bait and cause the ants not to pick it up.

When managing leafcutting ants, set expectations at managing, not eradicating.  Often when you treat, you’ll knock back a portion of the worker population, but the colony will remain.

This work is supported by the USDA-NIFA Extension Implementation Program, project award no. 2024-70006-43508, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

Springtails

 

Springtails are very small, primitive arthropods that are commonly found in soil, leaf litter, and other areas of moisture.  They are wonderful for compost piles as decomposers that feed on decaying vegetation, fungi, algae, lichen, and bacteria, breaking the items down into usable nutrients.

Springtails can reach up to 10 mm but most are around 1-2 mm in size.  They have various body shapes and colors, six legs and are wingless. Springtails get their name from the way that they propel themselves forward through the air.  Most springtails have a forked organ called the furcula that comes off the tip of the abdomen.  The furcula can be curled under the body and hook into an organ called the retinaculum.  When the furcula is released from the retinaculum, it pushes the springtail up and into the air making it look as if it’s jumping.

Springtails are often drawn to areas of moisture which can lead them into ponds, swimming pools, potted plants, or well-watered raised beds.  While typically found outdoors, they can move indoors with plants or in search of areas of moisture such as a water leak.

If springtails are outdoors, leave them as they are essential decomposers.  If you find them indoors, it is a signal that there is a moisture issue nearby; seek out and remedy the source of moisture to make the area less habitable for any springtails.

This work is supported by the USDA-NIFA Extension Implementation Program, project award no. 2024-70006-43508, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

Entomology Advanced Training for Master Gardeners & Master Naturalists

 

The regular, week long training has been cancelled for 2020 due to COVID, but we are hosting a four part online Zoom training for you to get your entomology fix!

Time for each meeting: 6-7:30pm

October 6 - Entomology 101 & How to ID Common Insect Orders
October 7 - Native Pollinators & Pollinator Gardening
October 13 - Veggie Pest Management
October 14 - Landscape and Ornamental Pest Management

Presenters include: Molly Keck, Erfan Vafaie, Wizzie Brown

Register here:
https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/organizationListings/11

Cost is $25 for all four sessions.  Presentations will be live and interactive with the presenters, as well as recorded for later viewing.  Registrants will receive a book and materials relating to sessions.