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Oecophylla smaragdina (common names include Asian weaver ant, weaver ant, green ant, green tree ant, and orange gaster) is a species of arboreal ant found in tropical Asia and Australia. These ants form colonies with multiple nests in trees, each nest being made of leaves stitched together using the silk produced by the ant larvae: hence the name 'oecophylla' [Greek for 'leaf-house'].
Workers and major workers are mostly coloured orange. Workers are 5–7 millimetres (0.20–0.28 in) long; they look after larvae and farm scale bugs for honeydew. Major workers are 8–10 millimetres (0.3–0.4 in) long, with long strong legs and large mandibles. They forage, assemble and expand the nest. Queens are typically 20–25 millimetres (0.8–1.0 in) long, and normally greenish-brown, giving the species its name smaragdina
Oecophylla smaragdina has a widespread distribution in tropical Asia and Australia, its range extending from India through Indonesia and the Philippines to Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia. It is an arboreal species, making its nests among the foliage of trees. Nests are constructed during the night, with major workers weaving towards the exterior and minor workers completing the interior structure.[3] The ant colony may have several nests in one tree, or the nests may be spread over several adjacent trees; colonies can reach up to half a million individuals.[2] In one instance, a colony occupied 151 nests distributed among twelve trees. Each colony has a single queen, in one of these nests, and her progeny are carried to other nests of the colony.[4] The average life of a mature colony may be eight years
Weaver ants of this species are important parts of the ecosystem in tree canopies in humid tropical regions.[5] Weaver ants feed on insects and other invertebrates, their prey being mainly beetles, flies and hymenopterans.[4] They do not sting, but have a painful bite into which they can secrete irritant chemicals from their abdomens. In the Oecophylla smaragdina, the antennal lobe glomeruli is seen in clusters, this appears to be a common feature in many Hymenopterans such as ants and honeybees.[6] In Singapore, colonies are often found in sea hibiscus and great morinda trees which entice the ants with nectar, the trees in return receiving protection from herbivorous insects.[7] In Indonesia, the trees supporting colonies include banana, coconut, oil palm, rubber tree, cacao, teak, jackfruit, mango, Chinese laurel, petai, jengkol, duku, rambutan, jambu air and kedondong.[4]The ants also attend aphids, scale insects and other homopterans to feed on the honeydew they produce, especially in tree canopies linked by lianas. For this purpose, they drive away other ant species from the parts of the canopy where these sap-sucking insects live.[5] Another association is with the larvae of certain blue butterflies In Australia, the common oak-blue, the bright oak-blue and the purple oak-blue are obligate associates and only occur in parts of the country where the weaver ant is established.[8] Shelters may be built by the ants close to their nests specially to protect these assets.[5] Some species of jumping spiders, such as myrmecophilic associate Cosmophasis bitaeniata, prey on the green tree ants by mimicking them with deceptive chemical scents. This is an example of aggressive mimicry. Disguised as one of them, the jumping spiders access their nests to consume the larvae and lay their own eggs alongside the nest, so that spiderlings can easily reach the ant larvae.[3] The jumping spider Myrmaplata plataleoides is a batesian mimic of this species. This spider visually mimics this ant, via contracted body parts to create the illusion of a hymenopteran body structure. It also has two black spots to mimic eyes on the side of its head. This spider also steals the ant's brood to obtain the scent of the colony. Despite this, they generally steer clear of weaver ant nests.
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Wonderful Weavers 
