Acromyrmex Octospinosus
Sold as a golf ball sized fungus
UK SHIPPING ONLY (We do not ship atta overseas): Includes UK overnight Shipping - Following our test shipment to ourselves, we are confident that Acro will ship adequately on a 24 hour service.
The Acromyrmex octospinosus leaf cutter ant is from South America and is found in forest areas.
Although these ants are well known for stripping leaves from plants they don't actually eat the leaves. The leaf cutter ant makes a compost heap in the nest where it 'farms' a special type of fungus found nowhere else on earth. This fungus produces a mycelia (fungus sort of root) and is the staple diet of the ants.
Thankfully it is one of the easier species to keep in captivity due to their relatively small colony size of around 50,000 at maturity! The process of small colony to maturity can take around 18 months but the queen of Acromyrmex octospinosus colony lives for 10 to 12 years and lays around 600 eggs per day at her peak.
Acromyrmex octospinosus causes serious damage to fields, crops, pastures and plantations due to their foraging activities for its symbiotic fungus cultivation.
Colony Size
Up to 50,000workers
Queen Age
Up to 20 years
Temperature
22 to 25 degrees
Hibernation
No
Polymorphic (Different size casts)
Yes
Sting
No
Bite
Yes
Diet
See Feeding Guide
Nest Type
Natural, Acrylic, Glass
Required; Fungus Chamber, Waste Chamber, Feeding Chamber
Size
Queen - 13-15mm
Major - 7-12mm
Worker - 4-6mm
Development
Egg to Adult Worker - 4 to 7 weeks
Acromyrmex Octospinosus - Leafcutter
Our legal duty requires us to keep a record of this species. We will store your details for APHA and DEFRA as proof of where the colony went in our recordkeeping.
It is illegal to release this colony into the wild in the UK, if you can no longer care for your colony please contact us immediately.
Make sure you set up your habitat and have it stable before delivery of your colony. To ensure this we will not ship any queen purchased without prior notification that your housing has been arranged and stable for a minimum of 2 days.
The order process is as follows;
- Order your Queen to make sure she is yours!
- Set up your nest, get everything ready to go.
- Inform us that you are ready to collect your queen (or for us to dispatch) by the chat function on your account.
- We will then ship your queen the following Tuesday on a next day service. (Or you can preferrably collect your queen from us directly).
