Friend or Foe? Oecophylla longinoda workers encounter each other on a tree branch and take a quick sniff of the other's scent. St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography

Oecophylla

is a genus of large arboreal ants of the African, Asian, and Australian tropics. These conspicuous insects are weaver ants, creating nests by pulling living tree leaves together and securing them with silk produced by the ants' larvae. Colonies are territorial, covering several trees and containing dozens of nests.

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Oecophylla longinoda

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Friend or Foe? Oecophylla longinoda workers encounter each other on a tree branch and take a quick sniff of the other's scent.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Oecophylla longinoda. Backlighting this ant reveals her respiratory system in great detail.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Oecophylla longinoda is polymorphic in the worker caste. Large workers perform many of the outside tasks of guarding and foraging, while small workers stick close to the nest.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Oecophylla longinoda, the tailor ant, is fiercely territorial. Here they have pinned down a Polyrhachis intruder that has stumbled onto their tree.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Oecophylla longinoda ants hold fast to a Polyrhachis worker that has intruded on their territory.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Friend or Foe? Oecophylla longinoda workers encounter each other on a tree branch and take a quick sniff of the other's scent.

St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa

Canon EOS 20D |

More details: exif |

Original size: 3297x2187 |

Current: 800x531 |

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Oecophylla

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