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Weaver ants or green ants (genus ''Oecophylla'') are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae (order Hymenoptera). Weaver ants are obligately arboreal and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk.〔Hölldober, B. & Wilson, E.O. 1990. ''The ants''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.〕 Colonies can be extremely large consisting of more than a hundred nests spanning numerous trees and contain more than half a million workers. Like many other ant species, weaver ants prey on small insects and supplement their diet with carbohydrate-rich honeydew excreted by small insects (Hemiptera). ''Oecophylla'' workers exhibit a clear bimodal size distribution, with almost no overlap between the size of the minor and major workers. The major workers are approximately in length and the minors approximately half the length of the majors. There is a division of labour associated with the size difference between workers. Major workers forage, defend, maintain, and expand the colony whereas minor workers tend to stay within the nests where they care for the brood and 'milk' scale insects in or close to the nests. ''Oecophylla'' weaver ants vary in color from reddish to yellowish brown dependent on the species. ''Oecophylla smaragdina'' found in Australia often have bright green gasters. These ants are highly territorial and workers aggressively defend their territories against intruders. Because of their aggressive behaviour, weaver ants are sometime used by indigenous farmers, particularly in southeast Asia, as natural biocontrol agents against agricultural pests. Although ''Oecophylla'' weaver ants lack a functional sting they can inflict painful bites and often spray formic acid〔J. W. S. Bradshaw, R. Baker, P. E. Howse (1979) Chemical composition of the poison apparatus secretions of the African weaver ant, ''Oecophylla longinoda'', and their role in behaviour. Physiological Entomology 4(1), 39–46 〕〔N. Peerzada, T. Pakkiyaretnam and S. Renaud. Volatile constituents of the green ant ''Oecophylla smaragdina''. Agric. Biol. Chem., 54 (12), 3335-3336, 1990 ()〕 directly at the bite wound resulting in intense discomfort. ==Species== Extant species: *''Oecophylla longinoda'' (Latreille, 1802) *''Oecophylla smaragdina'' (Fabricius, 1775) Extinct species: *†''Oecophylla atavina'' Cockerell, 1915 *†''Oecophylla bartoniana'' Cockerell, 1920 *†''Oecophylla brischkei'' Mayr, 1868 *†''Oecophylla crassinoda'' Wheeler, 1922 *†''Oecophylla eckfeldiana'' Dlussky, Wappler & Wedmann, 2008 *†''Oecophylla grandimandibula'' Riou, 1999 *†''Oecophylla leakeyi'' Wilson & Taylor, 1964 *†''Oecophylla longiceps'' Dlussky, Wappler & Wedmann, 2008 *†''Oecophylla megarche'' Cockerell, 1915 *†''Oecophylla obesa'' (Heer, 1849) *†''Oecophylla praeclara'' Förster, 1891 *†''Oecophylla sicula'' Emery, 1891 *†''Oecophylla superba'' Théobald, 1937 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Weaver ant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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