Locating, collecting, and maintaining colonies of fungus-farming ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae: Attini)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe methods developed by generations of attinologists for locating, collecting, and maintaining in the laboratory live colonies of fungus-farming ants. Our goal is to accelerate the study of the poorly known and increasingly threatened non-leaf-cutting species of this fascinating and biologically important group because leaf-cutting ants have historically received the majority of scientific attention. We describe standardized measurement and data collection protocols in three sections: (i) locating fungus-farming ants in the field; (ii) collecting whole colonies of fungus-farming ants; and (iii) maintaining living colonies of fungus-farming ants in the laboratory. We provide lists of necessary equipment and materials, including information on where they can be acquired.