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Oecophylla smaragdina
Formicidae; Formicinae; Oecophylla; Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius, 1775). The Asian Weaver Ant shown here is a new queen which has just left her colony to venture out and start a new colony of her own. The whole proceedure is simply and clearly laid out in http://www.oisat.org/control_methods/nat....
I spotted this O. smaragdina on St. Vincent plum (Gliricidia sepium) locally called Kakawate near an old farmhouse in the middle of some rice fields. I am pretty sure that this tree has nothing to do with the life cycle of this species of ant. I can only assume that this new queen is resting and probably looking for a mate. From everything I have read concerning the life of Asian Weaver Ants, I do not get the impression that the new queen travels far to establish her own colony. So I can only surmise that she looks for a mate (or mates) within a short distance of her original colony. In other words, she does not leave her habitat, but simply moves to a different part of the same habitat. So the area around the farmhouse i.e. the trees and rice fields are her habitat. When she establishes her new colony it will surely consist of a number of nests in citrus trees. These trees are plentiful here and they seem to be a favourite of Weaver Ants, but they do build their nests and colonies in other trees.
Plant identification http://www.stuartxchange.org/Kakawati
Spotted on Jun 18, 2016
Submitted on Jul 18, 2022
6 Comments
To: Leuba Ridgway
Good Morning, Leuba. Thank you for your comment on my Ant Queen spotting. I find the life cycle of these ants very interest and I am thinking of digging out some more of my pictures to put together as spottings for P.N. Regards, John B.
To: Mark Ridgway
Good Morning Mark, sorry for not replying more promptly. I was busy on my laptop with a spider spotting and I only use my Tablet for email notifications. That is an amazing creature you have chosen for your account photo. It did not dawn on me immediately that you were presenting me with the identity of an organism (I think I am slipping into my dotage). I just went scurrying for my latin dictionary and grammar book from my school days and was busy translating when I realized that I should be looking in Wikipedia. The only word I recognised without referring to the dictionary was "glaucus" - Latin for "Bluish Grey". So you got me this time ! :-) John B.
I've never seen such clear pics of an ant queen. Thanks for that and the interesting information John.
John.. Porpita, Velella, Glaucus ;-)
To: Mark Ridgway
Thanks Mark. Now, I have a chance to ask you. Does your new account picture have something to do with your spotting of a Eucalyptus leaf gall?
John B.
That's a nice find John. I love the venation.