Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly vs Mars Leafcutter Ant

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly Mars Leafcutter Ant
Scientific Name Arge berberidis Atta colombica
Order Hymenoptera Hymenoptera
Family Argidae Formicidae
Size 7-9 mm (adult) 2-16 mm (varies by caste)
Habitat Gardens Forests
Diet Herbivores Fungus Feeders
Regions Europe South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador)
Conservation Not Evaluated Least Concern

Yellow-shouldered Slug Sawfly

A sawfly pest of barberry and mahonia shrubs, skeletonizing leaves in gardens. Larvae are slug-like and pale green with a dark head.

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Did You Know?

Two generations per year can completely strip barberry hedges of their foliage by late summer.

Mars Leafcutter Ant

A major leafcutter ant species found in Colombian and Panamanian tropical forests. It forms large colonies with millions of workers that maintain extensive underground fungus gardens. Workers show extreme polymorphism, with soldier heads being over five times the width of minor workers.

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Did You Know?

The waste dumps of its colonies support unique microbial communities found nowhere else, essentially creating their own mini-ecosystem of decomposition.