Atta texana
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
The Texas leafcutter ant (Atta texana) is a species of fungus-farming ant in the subfamily Myrmicinae. It is found in Texas, Louisiana, and north-eastern Mexico. Other common names include town ant, parasol ant, fungus ant, cut ant, and night ant. It harvests leaves from over 200 plant species, and is considered a major pest of agricultural and ornamental plants, as it can defoliate a citrus tree in less than 24 hours. Every colony has several queens and up to 2 million workers. Nests are built in well-drained, sandy or loamy soil, and may reach a depth of 6 m (20 ft), have 1000 entrance holes, and occupy 420 m2 (4,500 ft2).
Workers measure 3 to 18 mm (0.12 to 0.71 in) in length, and are highly polymorphic. The back of the thorax has three pairs of spines. The ant has a narrow waist and is rusty brown in color. Its closely related cousin, Atta mexicana has colonies up to 8 million, and the queen for A. mexicana is larger than the M. texana queen. Atta mexicana is only able to have a single queen, while A. texana may have multiple queens (often 2). This makes the species polygyne and because of this trait, A. texana can form massive super colonies with upwards of 10... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Texas Leafcutter Ant sighting in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 74 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Texas Leafcutter Ant in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and October, the lowest months.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Texas Leafcutter Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Padre Island National Seashore, in our data
Padre Island National Seashore is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Texas Leafcutter Ant sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Formicidae
The closest relatives of the Texas Leafcutter Ant that you can see in Padre Island National Seashore (family Formicidae, Ants) are Yellow Pyramid Ant (about 10%), Shiny Acrobat Ant (about 10%) and Tropical Fire Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Texas Leafcutter Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Padre Island National Seashore (17 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
