ArticleFrontiers in insect science2026
Phylogenetic insights into the diversification of cutting strategies in leaf-cutting ants.
Article in Frontiers in insect science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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3 authors.
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Abstract
Leaf-cutting ants are dominant herbivores in Neotropical ecosystems, yet the evolutionary origins of their cutting preferences remains unresolved. We investigated whether grass-cutting specialization emerged from a single evolutionary innovation or multiple independent origins. We compiled the predominant cutting behavior of each leaf-cutting ant species and classified them as dicot, grass, or grass-dicot cutters. Integrating these data into a time-calibrated phylogenetic framework allowed us to reconstruct the evolutionary history and diversification of leaf-cutting behavior in these ants. Divergence-time analyses date the origin of leaf-cutting ants to the early Miocene, major crown clades diversified during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, a period of increasing climatic seasonality and landscape openness in South America. The evolutionary history of these ants is strongly influenced by large-scale climatic and geological processes, as evidenced by their origin and major diversification events in close association with Miocene-Pliocene environmental changes. Phylogenetic analyses clarify the contrasting diversification dynamics of
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