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Weaver ant
Oecophylla Temporal range: 47–0Ma Eocene - Recent | |
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Nest construction by O. smaragdina major workers (Thailand) | |
Scientific classification | |
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Tribe: | Oecophyllini
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Genus: | Oecophylla Smith, 1860
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Species | |
†Oecophylla atavina | |
Diversity | |
2 species | |
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Oecophylla range map. Oecophylla longinoda in blue, Oecophylla smaragdina in red.[1] |
Weaver ants (also known as tailor ants or green ants; genus Oecophylla) are eusocial insects of the Formicidae family. They make their nests from living leaves, still attached to the tree. Instead of needles and thread, they use a rare type of silk, made in the mouths of their own grubs.[2] The grubs are passed to and from between the leaves, to sew them together. Tailor ants may be found in the rainforest of Asia.[3]
Colonies of weaver ants can be very large, containing more than half a million workers. The colonies can be made up of more than a hundred nests across several trees.
References
- ↑ Dlussky, Gennady M.; Torsten Wappler and Sonja Wedmann (2008). "New middle Eocene formicid species from Germany and the evolution of weaver ants". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 53 (4): 615–626. . http://gap.entclub.org/taxonomists/Dlussky/Oecophylla%20Dlussky08.pdf.
- ↑ Hölldober, B. & Wilson, E.O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
- ↑ Ganeri, Anita (2000). Jungle Animals Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know. Dubai, U.A.E. .
Other websites
Media related to Oecophylla at Wikimedia Commons