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. |