Oecophylla

Hita Garcia, Wiesel and Fischer (2013) - Two species of “weaver ants” are known: one from the Oriental and Indo-Australian regions and another that is found in the Afrotropics. The “red tree ant”, Oecophylla longinoda occurs in the latter region and is spread throughout the whole of sub-Saharan Africa (Weber, 1949c). Despite the large popularity of the genus (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990), its taxonomy is in a very disappointing condition since it has not yet benefited from a modern taxonomic revision. Both species together contain 12 subspecies (Bolton, 2012), and it is unclear whether some of these merit species status or should just be regarded as junior synonyms. O. longinoda is one of the most well-studied ants from the Afrotropical region (Hölldobler & Lumsden, 1980; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990). It is one of the dominant species in African forest canopies and is especially known for its “weaver ant” ability to bind tree leaves into nest compartments with silk spun by larvae (Hölldobler & Lumbsen, 1980). A single colony can have more than 500,000 individuals and build hundreds of nests, in several trees, that are aggressively defended against other conspecific colonies and other ants (Hölldobler, 1979; Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990). These ants are predacious they and hunt large insect prey, not only in the canopy but also in the surrounding vegetation or on the ground. Oecophylla also tend honeydew-producing insects to supplement their diet (Weber, 1949c; Hölldobler & Lumbsen, 1980).

Species richness
Species richness by country based on regional taxon lists (countries with darker colours are more species-rich). View Data



Biology
There is a webpage with a list of some recent publications about weaver ants. You can also read an overview of their biology from the a chapter in The Ants: The Weaver Ants (Hölldobler and Wilson 1990).

Crozier et al. (2010) give a comprehensive synthesis of the biology of this genus, with only two species that are ecologically dominant over large parts of three continents.

Oecophylla smaragdina is also a popular food in Thailand (see Human culture & Ants)



Nomenclature

 *  OECOPHYLLA [Formicinae: Oecophyllini]
 * Oecophylla Smith, F. 1860b: 101. Type-species: Formica virescens (junior synonym of Formica smaragdina), by subsequent designation of Bingham, 1903: 310.