Belongs within: Myrmicinae.
The Attini, including the leafcutter ants and allied taxa, are a clade of ants characterised by the cultivation of fungi for food (Schultz & Brady 2008). Female attins, upon leaving the parental nest, carry a sample of their food fungus with them in order to start a culture in their new nest. The ancestral attins cultivated fungi of the Leucocoprineae, but one subgroup of the genus Apterostigma cultivates coral fungi of the Pterulaceae. Fungi cultivated by members of the clade Paleoattini are capable of growing outside the ant colony but those cultivated by Neoattini are only found in association with the ants. Leafcutter ants, including the genera Atta and Acromyrmex, cultivate a single derived fungus species on pieces of leaves that they collect and carry back to their nest (Schultz & Brady 2008).
<==Attini
|--PaleoattiniSB08
| |--ApterostigmaSB08
| | | i. s.: A. electropilosumSB08
| | | A. pilosumSB08
| | |--A. auriculatumSB08
| | `--+--A. collareSB08
| | |--+--A. dentigerumSB08
| | | `--A. dorotheaeSB08
| | `--+--A. goniodesSB08
| | `--A. manniSB08
| `--+--MycocepurusSB08
| | |--M. smithiSB08
| | `--+--M. curvispinosusSB08
| | `--M. tardusSB08
| `--MyrmicocryptaSB08
| |--M. infuscataSB08
| `--+--M. buenzliiSB08
| `--+--M. ednaellaSB08
| `--M. urichiSB08
`--NeoattiniSB08
|--Mycetophylax emeryiSB08
`--+--MycetarotesSB08
| |--M. acutusSB08
| `--M. parallelusSB08
`--MycetosoritisSB08
|--M. hartmanniSB08
`--+--M. clorindaeSB08
`--CyphomyrmexSB08
| i. s.: C. mayaSB08
| C. tainoSB08
|--+--+--C. fanulusSB08
| | `--+--‘Mycetophylax’ conformisSB08
| | `--C. morschiSB08
| `--+--C. rimosusSB08
| `--+--C. cornutusSB08
| `--C. minutusSB08
`--+--+--C. costatusSB08
| `--+--C. longiscapusSB08
| `--C. muelleri Schultz et al. 2002SB08, S09
`--+--Mycetagroicus triangularisSB08
`--TrachymyrmexSB08
| i. s.: T. neomexicanusWW90
| T. nogalensisWW90
| T. primaevus Baroni Urbani 1980P92
| T. seminoleH79
| T. urichiSB08
|--+--SericomyrmexSB08
| | |--S. harekuliBS23
| | `--S. parvulusSB08
| `--+--T. papulatusSB08
| `--+--T. opulentusSB08
| `--T. zetekiSB08
`--+--+--T. intermediusSB08
| `--+--T. diversusSB08
| `--+--T. cornetziSB08
| `--+--T. bugnioniSB08
| `--T. irmgardaeSB08
`--+--+--T. arizonensisSB08
| `--+--T. septentrionalisSB08
| `--T. smithiSB08
`--+--AttaSB08
| | i. s.: A. (Cryptocerus) atrataG20
| | A. capitataL49
| | A. dissimilis Jerdon 1851 (n. d.)B03
| | A. domicola Jerdon 1851 (n. d.)B03
| | A. sexdensH79
| |--+--A. cephalotesSB08
| | `--A. laevigataSB08
| `--+--A. mexicanaSB08
| `--A. texanaSB08
`--AcromyrmexSB08
| i. s.: A. echinatiorPK17
| A. lobicornisCM07
|--A. versicolorSB08
`--+--A. octospinosusSB08
`--+--PseudoattaSB08
|--+--A. balzaniSB08 [=A. landolti balzaniR72]
| `--A. landoltiSB08
`--+--A. heyeriSB08
`--A. lundiSB08
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[B03] Bingham, C. T. 1903. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Hymenoptera. Vol. II. Ants and Cuckoo-Wasps. Taylor and Francis: London.
[BS23] Blaimer, B. B., B. F. Santos, A. Cruaud, M. W. Gates, R. R. Kula, I. Mikó, J.-Y. Rasplus, D. R. Smith, E. J. Talamas, S. G. Brady & M. L. Buffington. 2023. Key innovations and the diversification of Hymenoptera. Nature Communications 14: 1212.
[CM07] Curtis, D. J., & G. Machado. 2007. Ecology. In: Pinto-da-Rocha, R., G. Machado & G. Giribet (eds) Harvestmen: The Biology of Opiliones pp. 280–308. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).
[G20] Goldfuss, G. A. 1820. Handbuch der Naturgeschichte vol. 3. Handbuch der Zoologie pt 1. Johann Leonhard Schrag: Nürnberg.
[H79] Howse, P. E. 1979. The uniqueness of insect societies: Aspects of defense and integration. In: Larwood, G. & B. R. Rosen (eds) Biology and Systematics of Colonial Organisms pp. 345–374. Academic Press: London.
[L49] Lucas, H. 1849. Exploration Scientifique de l’Algérie pendant les années 1840, 1841, 1842 publiée par ordre du gouvernement et avec le concours d’une commission académique. Sciences physiques. Zoologie. II. Histoire naturelle des animaux articulés. Troisième partie. Insectes (suite). Imprimerie Nationale: Paris.
[PK17] Peters, R. S., L. Krogmann, C. Mayer, A. Donath, S. Gunkel, K. Meusemann, A. Kozlov, L. Podsiadlowski, M. Petersen, R. Lanfear, P. A. Diez, J. Heraty, K. M. Kjer, S. Klopfstein, R. Meier, C. Polidori, T. Schmitt, S. Liu, X. Zhou, T. Wappler, J. Rust, B. Misof & O. Niehuis. 2017. Evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera. Current Biology 27 (7): 1013–1018.
[P92] Poinar, G. O., Jr. 1992. Life in Amber. Stanford University Press: Stanford.
[R72] Righi, G. 1972. Bionomic considerations upon the Glossoscolecidae (Oligochaeta). Pedobiologia 12: 254–260.
[SB08] Schultz, T. R., & S. G. Brady. 2008. Major evolutionary transitions in ant agriculture. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 105 (14): 5435–5440.
[S09] Seifert, B. 2009. Cryptic species in ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) revisited: we need a change in the alpha-taxonomic approach. Myrmecological News 12: 149–166.
[WW90] Wheeler, G. C., & J. Wheeler. 1990. Insecta: Hymenoptera Formicidae. In: Dindal, D. L. (ed.) Soil Biology Guide pp. 1277–1294. John Wiley & Sones: New York.