Agro-predation: usurpation of attine fungus gardens by Megalomyrmex ants

A new ant species of Megalomyrmex conducts mass raids to usurp gardens of t he fungus-growing ant Cyphomyrmex longiscapus, then lives in the gardens an d consumes the cultivated fungus. Unlike attine ants, however, Megalomyrvne x sp. does not forage for substrate to manure the gardens; therefore, when gardens become depleted, Megalomyrmex sp. must locate and usurp new gardens . Megalomyrmex sp. workers feed their larvae with attine brood, but only af ter removing the fungal mycelium that covers the attine larval integument, suggesting that this fungal coat may provide partial protection against oth er predators. Unlike other known Megalomyrmex species, which coexist as soc ial parasites in attine colonies, Megalomyrmex sp. expels its attine hosts during the garden raids. Megalomyrmex sp. thus maintains a unique agro-pred atory lifestyle that is described here for the first time.