Acromyrmex ambiguus

Acromyrmex ambiguus is common in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. They harvest monocotyledonous leaves (Loeck and Grutzmacher 2001) and masticate their collected plant material into tiny pieces to create the substrate for growing their fungal gardens. A molecular study of co-occuring populations of this species and Acromyrmex heyeri showed both of these species are cultivating Leucoagaricus gongylophorus but that there are differences in the fungal strains used by the two ant species (Pereira et al. 2015).

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Neotropical Region: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay.

Nomenclature

 *  ambiguus. Atta (Acromyrmex) lundi var. ambigua Emery, 1888c: 358 (w.) BRAZIL. Goni et al., 1983: 365 (k.). Combination in Acromyrmex: Bruch, 1914: 216. Raised to species: Emery, 1905c: 50. Senior synonym of erectus: Gonçalves, 1961: 131.
 * erectus. Acromyrmex ambiguus var. erectus Santschi, 1925a: 384, fig. 2 (w.) BRAZIL. Junior synonym of ambiguus: Gonçalves, 1961: 131.