Talented ants who sew their own homes (9 photos + 1 video)

If you want to live, then you will learn to survive. And these tiny but very talented creatures have learned to create houses for themselves in a very unusual way.





The Asian tailor ant (lat. Oecophylla smaragdina) or weaver ant, an inhabitant of the tropics and subtropics, received this name due to its non-standard approach to the organization of housing.



Ants spend their entire lives in trees, where a regular anthill cannot be built. And insects literally sew houses from leaves for themselves, organizing a reliable and safe shelter without harming the tree itself.





Several discoverers - fairly large and physically strong individuals - climb up the trunk, select a suitable leaf and connect it along the edge with the nearest one, holding it firmly with their mandibles.



The excess is chewed out and thrown away. After successful consolidation, the next group of “specialists” arrives at the site, each of whom drags a larva. At this stage of insect development, a good half of the body is formed by spinning glands. The larvae, acting as tubes of glue, produce a thin sticky thread that fixes the edges of the leaves and quickly hardens. Forming a strong seam.



After this, it is time for the next two leaves. This continues until a nest is formed, resembling a head of cabbage or a bud in appearance.



Despite their peaceful name, weaver ants are quite tough and aggressive guys. And without hesitation they attack anyone who tries to attack the nest. The colony consists of several dozen such man-made cocoons. The queen is one for everything. She lives for 12 years, and when she dies, the entire colony dies.



A particularly large colony can include up to 150 nests and occupy an area of up to 1.5 thousand square meters. In this case, there will be several queens.



The non-standard habitat and craft allowed, in the process of evolution, to form such powerful jaws that the bite will be noticeable even for humans, not to mention fellow insects, for whom an attack by formidable weavers means certain death.



Despite their courage and self-confidence, these cold-blooded, talented boogers cannot yet oppose anything to a person. And residents of, for example, India, Australia and Thailand quietly take advantage of this, diversifying the menu with dishes from weavers.

Oecophylla smaragdina