ABSTRACT
The present study was aimed at registering the damage by Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel in Neem trees, Azadirachta indica A. Juss., in Brazil. Workers were collected in May 2007 in an area located in the Zona da Mata region of Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The damages were registered in 5 Neem trees. Two nests were found at the site. Workers cut the leaves from low to top. A group of workers went up into the tree and initiated the cut of leaves, knocking them down to the soil so that other ants could cut and carry them into the nest. This is the first report of A. sexdens rubropilosa damaging Neem trees, in the state of Minas Gerais and in Brazil.
KEY WORDS
Foraging; leaf-cutting ants; forest entomology
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