Weaver ant

Oecophylla; Temporal range: Eocene - Recent
	Nest construction by O. smaragdina major workers (Thailand)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Oecophyllini
Genus:	Oecophylla; Smith, 1860
Species
	†Oecophylla atavina ; †Oecophylla bartoniana ; †Oecophylla brischkei ; †Oecophylla crassinoda ; †Oecophylla eckfeldiana; †Oecophylla grandimandibula ; †Oecophylla leakeyi ; Oecophylla longinoda; †Oecophylla longiceps; †Oecophylla megarche; †Oecophylla obesa ; †Oecophylla perdita; †Oecophylla praeclara; †Oecophylla sicula ; Oecophylla smaragdina; †Oecophylla superba; †Oecophylla xiejiaheensis
Diversity
	2 species
	Oecophylla range map.; Oecophylla longinoda in blue, Oecophylla smaragdina in red.

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.

Weaver Ant Media

Dead weaver ant queen carried by a worker ant
Liquid food exchange (trophallaxis) in O. smaragdina
Two O. smaragdina transferring food to their colony
Weaver ants collaborating to pull nest leaves together
Weaver ant nest on a mango tree
O. smaragdina tending scale insects
Leaf packets of larvae in Isaan typically sell for about 20 Thai Baht each (about 0.65 USD)

References

↑ Dlussky, Gennady M.; Wappler, Torsten; Wedmann, Sonja (2008). "New middle Eocene formicid species from Germany and the evolution of weaver ants" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (4): 615–626. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0406. S2CID 54222911.^{[dead link]}
↑ 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. ISBN 0-75254-909-X.

Other websites

Wikispecies has information on: Oecophylla.

Media related to Oecophylla at Wikimedia Commons

Weaver Ants - National Geographic, May 2011^{[dead link]}
AntWeb - Ants of the world
Tree Of Life - Oecophylla Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine

[Dlussky2008-1] Dlussky, Gennady M.; Wappler, Torsten; Wedmann, Sonja (2008). "New middle Eocene formicid species from Germany and the evolution of weaver ants" (PDF). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 53 (4): 615–626. doi:10.4202/app.2008.0406. S2CID 54222911.^{[dead link]}

[H.C3.B6lldober.2C_B._1990-2] Hölldober, B. & Wilson, E.O. 1990. The ants. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

[3] Ganeri, Anita (2000). Jungle Animals Over 100 Questions and Answers to Things You Want to Know. Dubai, U.A.E. ISBN 0-75254-909-X.

[2]

[3]

[1]

Oecophylla Temporal range: Eocene - Recent

Nest construction by O. smaragdina major workers (Thailand)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Formicinae
Tribe:	Oecophyllini
Genus:	Oecophylla Smith, 1860
Species
†Oecophylla atavina †Oecophylla bartoniana †Oecophylla brischkei †Oecophylla crassinoda †Oecophylla eckfeldiana †Oecophylla grandimandibula †Oecophylla leakeyi Oecophylla longinoda †Oecophylla longiceps †Oecophylla megarche †Oecophylla obesa †Oecophylla perdita †Oecophylla praeclara †Oecophylla sicula Oecophylla smaragdina †Oecophylla superba †Oecophylla xiejiaheensis
Diversity
2 species

Oecophylla range map. Oecophylla longinoda in blue, Oecophylla smaragdina in red.^[1]