weaver ant

Description:

A small weaver any nest (colony) on Hibiscus sp. Weaver Ants' nests are among the most complex ants' nests. The ants choose living leaves to build nests. These provide well camouflaged protection from predators and the elements. To create their neat nest, chains of worker ants form along the edge and pull the edges together by shortening the chain by one ant at a time. Once the edges are in place, an ant holds one of their larvae in its mandibles and gently squeezes it so the larvae produces silk. The silk is used to glue the leaf edges together. The larvae have special glands to produce lots of strong silk. The adults do not produce silk.

Habitat:

This spotting in a large semi-urban yard and garden adjacent to a disturbed patch of remnant forest. They have increased drastically in the past year and now can be seen on all manner of shrubs and trees in the yard & gardens.

Notes:

For another spotting involving colonial behavior see this spotting http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/702... For a YouTube video of a colony see this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pdAOS7Jr...