A Review on Social and Economical Status of Asian Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina)

Abstract

The Asian weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are one of the most social insects that actually work effectively for their existence from generation to generation. These ants are totally social as they always recruit their activities like nesting, foraging, migrating, and protecting their nest mates in huge number. Weaver ants also plays role as pest managing in several farms by dominating in numbers and eliminating other pests by their presence. In countries like Thailand and other Asian countries they have propogated naturally and artificially in order to combat against other pest impeding the trees to destroy them. Additionally these ants also have different castes to manage all the activities to continue their livelihood that work depending upon their actual needs. These ants also build arboreal nests on trees of mango, ashoka and other citrus plants by bringing the close proximity leaves. The workers squeeze up the unfertilized larva which helps to ooze out the silk like fluid that acts as a packing material to seal the edges of leaves and build a nest. Oecophylla smaragdina shows courtship behavior during nuptial flight during monsoon seasons to expand their colony. The female and male alate exchange their gametes in air and later on locate their own nest from the colony thereby laying eggs once the female ant loses its wings. These ants are of economical importance as their larvae are consumed by people of many countries as highly protein diet in a fried form as fritter. They are also highly possessive for their nest mates. Weaver ants forage socially by making different groups to locate, reach and lodge the food inside the nest by using landmarks.