Occultus's Oecophylla longinoda - African Weaver Ants
Apr 20, 2016 18:21:39 GMT
Wood~Ant, shane, and 2 more like this
Post by occultus on Apr 20, 2016 18:21:39 GMT
Taxonomy:
- Family: Formicidae
- Subfamily: Formicinae
- Genus: Oecophylla
- Species: longinoda
- Binomial Nomenclature: Oecophylla longinoda
Origin: Tropical Africa
Features: Minor - Major castes
Hibernation: No
Appearance of the queen: Vigorous, yellowish brown
Appearance of the workers: colour: Brown-Yellow, slim with long extremities
Nest building: Weaved nests between leaves of trees
Food: Honeywater, Insects
Temperature: Arena: 21 - 35°C Nestpart: 24 - 28°C
Humidity: 60 - 80% (tropical climate)
Description:
Oecophylla longinoda is smaller then the Asian species but shows a greater worker polymorphous. This ant species lives in the canopy of different trees and plants. There they build nests with the silk of the larvae. The worker often build long chains between the leaves and "weave" with the silk. Through the Transpiration of the leaves there is always the right condition inside the nest. Oecophylla is very aggressive and defend there territory against any Intruder. In Asia they were used as biological agent for hundreds of years. They are searching for food on the tree and on the ground.
Together with the Leafcutter ants they show one of the most complex communication system in all social insects. It contains of pheromones, tactile and optical communication. If there a lack of food or other unsuitable conditions they often try to escape. Large colonies with there hundreds of bites and formic acid can also defend against large Intruders( Keeper).
I have been lucky enough to purchase a small colony of Oecophylla longinoda with 10-20 workers.
The ants arrived this morning after a 2 day journey from Germany. To my pleasant surprise, the colony looks healthy with around 20 workers( head-count needed). They look very similar to the Asian weavers ants expect that they have a brown-yellow colouration. The Queen looks yellowy green.
This is a different sort of ant to what I'm used to. I'll likely make a few mistakes as its a learning process.
I'm housing this colony on an ant-island set up. The water surrounding the colony will keep the ants contained. This set up will change as the colony grows in number. Eventually they shall have an entire room with trees inside.
I have used white gravel in my set up as substrate for two reasons:
1. The gravel is half filled with water to boost humidity whilst not allowing the ants to access it.
2. The gravel contrasts well with the ants dark colour.
Here they are
Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr
Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on Flickr
After just 10 minutes of arriving from the post, the ants already started dragging a cricket into their test-tube :-)
2016-04-20_12-07-59 by che hawkins, on Flickr
I really hope they thrive :-)
- Family: Formicidae
- Subfamily: Formicinae
- Genus: Oecophylla
- Species: longinoda
- Binomial Nomenclature: Oecophylla longinoda
Origin: Tropical Africa
Features: Minor - Major castes
Hibernation: No
Appearance of the queen: Vigorous, yellowish brown
Appearance of the workers: colour: Brown-Yellow, slim with long extremities
Nest building: Weaved nests between leaves of trees
Food: Honeywater, Insects
Temperature: Arena: 21 - 35°C Nestpart: 24 - 28°C
Humidity: 60 - 80% (tropical climate)
Description:
Oecophylla longinoda is smaller then the Asian species but shows a greater worker polymorphous. This ant species lives in the canopy of different trees and plants. There they build nests with the silk of the larvae. The worker often build long chains between the leaves and "weave" with the silk. Through the Transpiration of the leaves there is always the right condition inside the nest. Oecophylla is very aggressive and defend there territory against any Intruder. In Asia they were used as biological agent for hundreds of years. They are searching for food on the tree and on the ground.
Together with the Leafcutter ants they show one of the most complex communication system in all social insects. It contains of pheromones, tactile and optical communication. If there a lack of food or other unsuitable conditions they often try to escape. Large colonies with there hundreds of bites and formic acid can also defend against large Intruders( Keeper).
I have been lucky enough to purchase a small colony of Oecophylla longinoda with 10-20 workers.
The ants arrived this morning after a 2 day journey from Germany. To my pleasant surprise, the colony looks healthy with around 20 workers( head-count needed). They look very similar to the Asian weavers ants expect that they have a brown-yellow colouration. The Queen looks yellowy green.
This is a different sort of ant to what I'm used to. I'll likely make a few mistakes as its a learning process.
I'm housing this colony on an ant-island set up. The water surrounding the colony will keep the ants contained. This set up will change as the colony grows in number. Eventually they shall have an entire room with trees inside.
I have used white gravel in my set up as substrate for two reasons:
1. The gravel is half filled with water to boost humidity whilst not allowing the ants to access it.
2. The gravel contrasts well with the ants dark colour.
Here they are
Oecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on FlickrOecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on FlickrOecophylla longinoda 20/04/16 by che hawkins, on FlickrAfter just 10 minutes of arriving from the post, the ants already started dragging a cricket into their test-tube :-)
2016-04-20_12-07-59 by che hawkins, on FlickrI really hope they thrive :-)
