The weaver ant gets its name from literally weaving their nests out of leaves, using silk from the young ant larvae (or, as Moffet jokes, using child labour). A good way of identifying these nests is to look for anything from an opaque leaf folded into itself, to a oblong-shaped collection of leaves with white silk holding it together along the seams. The creamy larvae is also considered an important source of protein-rich food for communities that harvest them.
These ants are highly territorial, and do not hesitate to spit formic acid into their bites, so take care not to come in contact with their trial! Don’t worry - formic acid isn’t toxic, unlike the venom from fire ants. It actually has antibacterial properties, and the ants have been harvested and crushed to be used in traditional medicine. (Formic acid also contributes to the weird smell of a crushed ant.)
They are also mimicked by (aptly named) spiders - the ant-mimic jumping spider and the ant-mimic crab spider - and a caterpillar. This mimicry allows the spiders to hunt weaver ants in close proximity without being suspected, and provides protection to the latter.
In case you haven’t noticed, the weaver ants in school have been around for a while - they nest among the vertical greenery on the sixth and seventh levels, and travel between Block A and B via the string of bamboo segments. Yes, you have been walking under them all this time! Here’s the fun part: traditionally, Chinese farmers used them as ‘live pesticide’ to eliminate pests in fruit trees, and encouraged the colony to migrate and expand by placing bamboo poles between the trees. (And we have done that unintentionally.)
Hope you’ve enjoyed learning about these interesting critters - here are a couple of links where you can learn more about them in detail, as well as where we got our information from:
For photos of the mimics:
For Moffet in his element:
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The Seen@ Team
