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Weaver ant

Oecophylla smaragdina

Photo by sunnyjosef
Published on Project Noah
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9.94526, 76.2512

Field Notes

Description:

They are building a bridge to span two leaves to build their nest.

Habitat:

Trees

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (11)

Thanks to Project Noah for highlighting my spotting as Fun fact...
Fun fact! A single colony of weaver ants can create cities of football-sized nests, sometimes numbering in the hundreds and connected to each other by bridges, by ‘sewing’ leaves together – a task that requires many ants working cooperatively. When the distance between leaves is beyond the reach of a single ant, workers form chains with their bodies by grasping each other’s petiole or waist, as seen here. Multiple chains will work together to join large leaves during nest construction, forming the bridges that allow the colony to traverse its territory. Remarkably, though each ant weighs about the same as a few grains of salt, it is estimated the total weight of all of the weaver ants worldwide would match that of the seven billion humans that inhabit the planet! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153277840140603&set=a.10152575329380603.958289.10150120463815603&type=1
Those ants are impressive as is your shot!
Photographed
PublishedSeptember 22, 2013

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