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The response of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes to its alarm pheromones from crushed heads were compared to its response to crushed bodies without heads in order to examine the relative subcaste (minor and forager) composition of the responding individuals. The percentage of minor workers responding to the body parts near the foraging trail were recorded and compared with the experimentally determined percentage of minors in the trail traffic. The average percentage of minors in the ants responding to the two treatments (Heads: 44.9±0.72%, Bodies: 38.8±0.77%, N= 1300) both differed (p=. 0007, p=. 0113, df= 1) from the baseline trail composition (22.3±0.51%, N= 405), but did not differ from each other (p=. 382, df= 1). There was a difference in the strength of the reaction over time between the heads and bodies for both minors (p<. 0001) and foragers (p=. 004), suggesting a difference in stability between the pheromone types. The unexpectedly strong reaction by minors to crushed bodies calls into question the validity of previous conclusions regarding the role of minor workers in foraging trails, especially considering the proportional equality of minor reactions to alarm and non-alarm pheromone sources.