Oecophylla smaragdina nest construction

Genus/Species:	Oecophylla smaragdina
Common Name:	Arboreal Red Ant
Family/Subfamily:	Formicidae
Order:	Hymenoptera
Origin:	Bulolo/M.P.
Location:	BUC
Remarks:	Cooperation amongst ants can be easily observed in and on a nest of the arboreal red ant Oecophylla smaragdina. As soon as a nest is damaged, for instance by an object poked into the nest, an armada of ants appears to defend their home. At the same time the ants start to fix the nest by weaving leaves together with a silken thread. Many legs cooperate to pull a leaf closer towards the nest, so that it can be tied and attached to the nest. If a desired leaf is more than one ant-length away from the nest, the insects form long chains of several or more ants, to get the leaf into the right position. And if twenty or thirty ants are not powerful enough to get the job done, then another hundred ants rush to assist. Large numbers of ants form ‘wire-bridge’-like structures. These ‘bridges’ are not only used for towing on the ants’ construction sites, but are also formed to cross creeks or to conveniently travel across gaps like from one tree to another. The worker ants do not have the ability to spin a thread. This is done by their larvae, which are carried from the nest’s inside to where the silken thread is required.