Collecting young nests of Atta spp. is more efficient to establish laboratory colonies than collecting founder queens after nuptial flights

The locations of leaf-cutting ant (Atta spp.) nests present logistical challenges for researchers, due the environmental conditions, accessibility, difficult manipulation and other complicating factors for conducting manipulative experiments. A method to circumvent this obstacle lies in establishing ant colonies in the laboratory microcosm. Our objective was to compare two methods for establishing colonies of Atta spp. in the laboratory. In one approach Atta colonies were established by collecting founder queens after their mating flights, while in second approach, founder nests (founder colonies) were obtained by collecting queens, workers, and fungal gardens. In the first method, queens found on the ground after their nuptial flights (120 in 2017; 98 in 2019) were collected and established in laboratory rearing containers. In the second method, three to five months after mating flight, we hand-collected young nests of leaf-cutting ants (94 in 2018; 71 in 2020). All materials (queen, fungal garden, and workers) were transferred into rearing units (plastic pots). Field-collected founder queens and young nests were observed for queen mortality, fungal healthiness, and overall development. Results showed that most founder queens collected from mating flights failed to establish healthy colonies. Founder queens’ mortality reached up to 98.3% in 2017, and 100% in 2020. More successful establishment of laboratory colonies was attained with field-collected young nests. In this method, we observed 83.3% and 53.5% establishment success in 2017 and 2020, respectively. Field-collection of young nests is a relatively simple and efficient method for successful establishing and rearing of Atta spp. in laboratory conditions.