Fatass ant (spanish: hormiga culona)
Atta laevigata
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Subclass: Pterygota Infraclass: Neoptera Superorder: Endopterygota Order: Hymenoptera Suborder: Apocrita Superfamily: Vespoidea Family: Formicidae Subfamily: Formicinae Tribe: Attini Genus: Atta Species: A. laevigata
Binomial name
Atta laevigata F. Smith, 1860

The Fatass ant, Atta laevigata, is an edible ant specie (see entomophagy) mainly found in north-eastern Colombia in the Department of Santander. The ant is named after his voluminous metasoma. It has been eaten for hundred of years, as a tradition inherited of pre-Columbian cultures as the Guarne. The ants are harvested for about nine weeks every year, at the time of the rainy season, which is when they make the nuptial flight; Fatass ants are used as traditional gifts in weddings. There are local beliefs about the ants to be aphrodisiac. For other uses, see Scientific classification (disambiguation). ... Animalia redirects here. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - Trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - Spiders, Scorpions, etc. ... Classes & Orders Class Insecta (insects) Unplaced orders:    Order Diplura    Order Collembola (springtails)    Order Protura The subphylum Hexapoda constitutes the largest (in terms of number of species) grouping of arthropods and includes the insects as well as a few much smaller groups of wingless arthropods closely related to insects: Collembola, Protura... Orders See taxonomy Insects are invertebrates that are taxonomically referred to as the class Insecta. ... Orders     Palaeodictyoptera - extinct     Ephemeroptera (mayflies)     Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies)   Infraclass Neoptera     Blattodea (cockroaches)     Mantodea (mantids)     Isoptera (termites)     Zoraptera     Grylloblattodea (rock crawlers)     Dermaptera (earwigs)     Plecoptera (stoneflies)     Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)     Phasmatodea (walking sticks, timemas)     Embioptera (webspinners)     Mantophasmatodea (gladiators)    Superorder Hemipterodea     Psocoptera (booklice, barklice)     Phthiraptera (lice)     Hemiptera (true bugs)     Thysanoptera (thrips)    Superorder... Orders     Blattodea (cockroaches)     Mantodea (mantids)     Isoptera (termites)     Zoraptera     Grylloblattodea     Dermaptera (earwigs)     Plecoptera (stoneflies)     Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets, katydids)     Phasmatodea (walking sticks, timemas)     Embioptera (webspinners)     Mantophasmatodea (gladiators)    Superorder Hemipterodea     Psocoptera (booklice, barklice)     Phthiraptera (lice)     Hemiptera (true bugs)     Thysanoptera (thrips)    Superorder Endopterygota     Miomoptera - extinct     Megaloptera (alderflies, etc. ... Orders Coleoptera (beetles) Diptera (flies and relatives) Hymenoptera (wasps and relatives) Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths) Mecoptera Megaloptera Miomoptera (extinct) Neuroptera Raphidioptera (snakeflies) Siphonaptera (fleas) Strepsiptera Trichoptera (caddisflies) The Endopterygota, also known as Holometabola, are insects of the subclass Pterygota which go through distinctive larval, pupal, and adult stages. ... Suborders Apocrita Symphyta Many families, see article Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. ... Superfamilies Apoidea Ceraphronoidea Chalcidoidea Chrysidoidea Cynipoidea Evanioidea Ichneumonoidea Megalyroidea Proctotrupoidea Sphecoidea Stephanoidea Triganalyoidea Vespoidea Many families, see article Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. ... Vespoidea is a Superfamily of Order Hymenoptera of Class Insecta, although other taxonomic schemes may vary in this categorization. ... Subfamilies Aenictinae Aenictogitoninae Aneuretinae Apomyrminae Cerapachyinae Dolichoderinae Dorylinae Ecitoninae Formicinae Leptanillinae Leptanilloidinae Myrmeciinae Myrmicinae Nothomyrmeciinae Ponerinae Proceratiinae Pseudomyrmecinae Ants are social insects that belong to the same order as the wasps and bees. ... Tribes, Genera and Species Species: Formica rufa Genus: Camponotus(World-wide) Formica, Lasius(Holartic) Gigantiops(Neotropical) Polyrhachis(Asian, African tropics) Melophorus(Australian) Kyromyrma(Cretaceous fossil) Tribes: Camponotini Formicini Gesomyrmecini Gigantiopini Lasiini Melophorini Myrmecorhynchini Myrmoteratini Notostigmatini Oecophyllini Plagiolepidini The Formicinae is a subfamily within the Formicidae containing ants of moderate evolutionary... Genera Many The Fungus-growing ants (tribe Attini) is comprised of all the known fungus_growing ant species in the world. ... Species Many This article is about the genus of New World ants. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Frederick Smith (1805 - 1879) was a British entomologist. ... Subfamilies Aenictinae Aenictogitoninae Aneuretinae Apomyrminae Cerapachyinae Dolichoderinae Dorylinae Ecitoninae Formicinae Leptanillinae Leptanilloidinae Myrmeciinae Myrmicinae Nothomyrmeciinae Ponerinae Proceratiinae Pseudomyrmecinae Ants are social insects that belong to the same order as the wasps and bees. ... Entomophagy is the concept of humans eating insects for food. ... Scorpion anatomy: 1 = Prosoma; 2 = Mesosoma; 3 = Metasoma The metasoma is clearly visible on this ant: it is the posterior section, including the petiole The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma... Guarne is a municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. ... Nuptial flight is an important phase in the reproduction of most ant species. ... An aphrodisiac is an agent which acts on the mind and causes the arousal of the mood of sexual desire. ...

The harvesting is made for the local peasants who are often wounded by the ants, since they have strong mandibles. Only the queens are collected, because the other ants aren’t edible. The legs and wings are removed; after that, the ants are soaked in salty water and roasted in ceramic pans. The main centers of production of ants are the municipalities of San Gil and Barichara. From there, the trade of ants is extended to Bucaramanga and Bogotá, where the packages containing ants are often seen during the season. The exportation of this product is mainly made to Canada, England and Japan. Insect mandibles are a pair of appendages near the insect’s mouth. ... A queen is the only female insect in a hive that is fertile and egg laying; for example, a queen bee, wasp, hornet, ant, or termite. ... An insect leg The arthropod leg is a form of jointed appendage of arthropods, usually used for walking. ... Wing structure of a dragonfly (family Gomphidae) Insect wings are outgrowths of the insect exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. ... Bucaramanga is the capital of the department of Santander, Colombia, and is the hub of Colombias sixth-largest metropolitan area (2003 census: 553,046, metro pop. ... Nickname: Athens of Latin America Motto: Bogotá, 2600 metros más cerca de las estrellas Bogotá, 2600 metres closer to the stars Municipalities of Bogotá Country Colombia Department Bogotá, D.C.* Foundation August 6, 1538 Mayor Luís Eduardo Garzón, PDA Area    - City 1,732 km² Elevation 2,640... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ...

Analyses conducted in the Santander Industrial University about the nutritional value of the ants (Alfonso Villalobos et al, 1999) show high level of protein, very low levels of saturated fat, and an overall high nutritional value. A representation of the 3D structure of myoglobin, showing coloured alpha helices. ... Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. ...

The Fatass ants are a temporary source of income for the poor peasant of the area, this and the competition for resources with more aggressive species of leafcutter ants ("arrieras") cause a progressive decrease of the population of ants, as estimated in recent studies (Santamaria et al. 2005) in a remaining of only a sixth of the existent population twelve years ago, and for this reason there is concern about its conservation status.

External link

• Crunchy, Big-Butt Ants Entice Gourmands In Dicovery Channel animal news. Retrieved December 26, 2006.