Snake reproduction in a leaf cutter ant colony
This is an electronic appendix to the paper "The fungus gardens of the leaf cutter ant Atta colombica function as egg nurseries", which was published in Insectes Sociaux.
Summary
During excavations of mature colonies of the leafcutter ant Atta colombica we found five large snake eggs in two neighbouring fungus gardens. The eggs were embedded within the fungus garden and were ignored by the host ants. Two snakes eventually hatched, which we identified as being banded cat eyed snakes Leptodeira annulata L.We here provide photographs of the snakes to facilitate future identification if found again in the field.
Photograph 1:
One of the two juvenile Leptodeira annulata L banded cat eyed snakes, taken shortly after hatching.
Photograph 2:
Photograph of one of the two juvenile Leptodeira annulata L banded cat eyed snakes, taken shortly after it hatched from one of five eggs found in the fungus garden of a Panamanian Atta colombica colony. Inset is a close up of the head of this specimen.
