last updated 20.Jan.2006 |
Weaver Ants
Several groups of tropical formicine ants have independantly evolved
a peculiar nesting habit where they employ silk spun by their larvae to
fasten nests out of leaves. The most conspicuous of these are the
Oecophylla
ants of tropical Africa, Asia, and Australia, but weaving also appears
in the speciose genera Camponotus
and Polyrhachis. Since these
are independant lineages, weaver ants are a functional category and not
a taxonomic grouping.
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