Researchers working on the Ribeirão Preto campus of the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have discovered that a bacterium found in the microbiota associated with leafcutter ant species Atta sexdens rubropilosa produces the so - called «trail pheromones,» i.e, the aromatic chemical compounds used by the ants to lay a trail to their nest. (sciencedaily.com)
A University of Arizona research team first studied this ant species because of its ability to farm not just fungi, like leafcutter ants do, but other crops as well. (discovermagazine.com)
The robots mimic leafcutter ants, which are masters of organization and cooperation. (sciencemag.org)