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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re talking about weaver ants. Many ants build their nests underground burrowing tunnels deep into the dirt, but not these inventive engineers. Weaver ants prefer to take to the trees. There are two living weaver ant species with one living in Africa and the other living throughout Asia, Australia, and some Pacific islands. These ants live in tropical and subtropical climates and make their homes in the tree canopy. In order to stay warm, weaver ants are usually found high in the treetops, but they may also inhabit shrubs. They’ll also take to the ground while they forage.

Weaver ants are voracious predators. If an unwelcome visitor wanders too close to the weaver ants’ home, they can expect an unpleasant surprise. Weaver ants will defend their nests using their strong mandibles to bite at an intruder. They’ll also spray acid from their abdomens to fully exacerbate a wound. It’s enough to send most animals packing, though weaver ants may be predated by other ant colonies including other weaver ants! Things can get pretty territorial in the trees.

Generally, weaver ant homes are built where they’ll have access to sunlight, so they may build on the edge of a forest clearing or near a source of water. A colony’s nest may span multiple trees and include many nest balls. Weaver ants nests are made up of leaves that have been woven together, hence the common name. These ants will use their bodies to pull leaves together, sometimes creating long ant chains in order to help their fellow workers reach a certain area. The ants then utilize silk to bind the leaves together. Adult weaver ants, however, are unable to produce silk; that task is left up to their babies.

Weaver ants undergo complete metamorphosis. The eggs are laid by the colony queen. She’s the largest member of the colony and may quadruple the workers in size! On average the workers are about 6mm long, but they are separated into two groups: the major workers and the minor workers. Major workers are larger than minor workers and spend more time outside of the nest. They forage for food and defend the colony. Minor workers tend to stay inside and around the nest where they care for the brood and tend to the queen. The queen may lay more than 100 eggs per day and these will quickly develop into larvae. The larvae need to molt three times before they pupate and then eventually become adults. Normally ants weave a silken cocoon in their final instar in which they’ll pupate, but weaver ants use the silk of their babies to construct their nests. These nests then offer the pupae the protection a cocoon would have given them! The whole process from egg to adult ant takes about 30 days, but it’s a long and eventful journey!

Weaver ants are also commonly known as green ants and red ants alluding to their color patterns. New weaver ant colonies are created when queens produce babies who grow to sprout wings. These ladies will take to the sky and mate with multiple drones before settling down to start a new colony. We discussed this more in our leaf cutter ant episode.

While hunting, weaver ants will take any opportunistic meal they can carry like deceased geckos or even crayfish, however their main source of food comes from other arthropods. Weaver ants will cultivate scale insects in their nests so they can consume the honeydew these insects produce. Weaver ants may also seek out other arthropods like wasps and beetles. In fact, this predatory behavior has made these ants a useful biological control for pest species on crops!

For more facts on weaver ants check out the links in the description. Thank you to Soura for today’s request! Give a thumbs up if you learned something new today, and thank you for watching Animal Fact Files.