Nest Architecture, Fungus Gardens, Queen, Males and Larvae of the Fungus-growing Ant Brandão & Mayhé-Nunes

All known fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) are obligately symbiotic with their cultivated fungi. The fungal cultivars of "lower" attine ants are facultative symbionts, capable of living apart from ants, whereas the fungal cultivars of "higher" attine ants, including leaf-cutting genera and , are highly specialized, obligate symbionts. Since higher attine ants and fungi are derived from lower attine ants and fungi, understanding the evolutionary transition from lower to higher attine agriculture requires understanding the historical sequence of change in both ants and fungi. The biology of the poorly known ant genus is of special interest in this regard because it occupies a phylogenetic position intermediate between lower and higher ant agriculture. Here, based on the excavations of four nests in Pará, Brazil, we report the first biological data for the recently described species , including the first descriptions of males and larvae. Like , the only other species in the genus for which nesting biology is known, the garden chambers of are unusually deep and the garden is most likely relocated vertically in rainy and dry seasons. Due to the proximity of nests to the Araguaia River, it is likely that even the uppermost chambers and nest entrances of are submerged during the rainy season. Most remarkably, all three examined colonies of cultivate the same fungal species as their congener, , over 1,000 km away, raising the possibility of long-term symbiont fidelity spanning speciation events within the genus.