"Oecophylla smaragdina" is a species of arboreal ant found in Asia and Australia. They make nests in trees made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by their larvae.
Similar species: Wasps, Bees, Sawflies And Ants
By Christiane Geissler
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Uploaded Mar 27, 2016. Captured Jan 23, 2012 14:41.
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Talk about teamwork! Weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are engineers in the insect world! They build nesting chambers with leaves that they pull together through the cooperation of worker ants. Once they have the leaves positioned properly, they hold them in place until a second group of worker ants arrive. This new group comes bearing “tools”, of a sort—they carry ant larvae in their jaws. The larvae produce silk that the workers use to bind the leaves together. So, the first group of workers patiently hold the leaves in place, while the second group uses larval ant silk to bind the leaves! This process takes several hours to complete! Isn’t that amazing?! There may be numerous nests in a single tree with thousands of ants that live and work together as a super colony. Weaver ants are predators and they fiercely guard their nests. They have no qualms about biting intruders. They also shoot acid from their abdomens to further scare off any “bad guys”. These defensive behaviors benefit the tree as well because the ants either eat or fight off any potential pest insects, thus protecting the tree. {Spotted in Australia by JungleDragon user, Christiane Geissler} #JungleDragon
Posted 6 years ago