Oecophylla (Weaver Ant)
Hello Bugman
I thought your viewers may enjoy this picture of what I guess is an Oecophylla (Weaver Ant) having a chew on my finger. These little bundles of joy are probably the dominant predators in our garden give or take the odd snake. We live in Thailand. Regards
Sean
Hi Sean,
Thank you for sending us your photo of a Weaver Ant. We did some research, and would love it if you could provide us with an image of the nest they weave from living leaves.
Update: (01/04/2007)
Here’s a picture of one of the small satellite nests. The main soccer ball size nests (and there are many) are high up in a Jack Fruit tree and I can’t get a clear picture unfortunately. The tree is visible on Google Earth so I’ve attached a .kmz file so you can see where these ants are in Thailand. I don’t think that Wikipedia article is quite right with respect to ‘…and are known for their painful, irritating sting’. Thankfully they’re stingless. I guess they don’t need a sting with those jaws. They seem to do very well without one. Regards
Sean
Hi again Sean,
Thanks so much for the additonal photo and information.