“This is TEAMWORK at its best! There’s so much we can learn and be inspired by Nature!
“I have noticed these Red Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) constructing their nest in our Rainforest last week.
“Red Weaver Ants are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk.
“There is a division of labour, which is associated with the size difference between workers, whereby major workers ants forage, defend and maintain the ant colony and the minor ants stay within the nests to care of the newly hatched ants.
“Weaver ants hunt and kill small insects that are potentially harmful plant pests. Therefore, trees harbouring weaver ants benefit from decreased level of herbivory from organisms such as caterpillars and grasshoppers.
“Be careful not to brush against the plants when you walk through the Rainforest in our school. These ants can give you a sting before you can swipe them off your arms and neck. Well, getting bitten once or twice might be part of our life experiences.”
Jacob Tan Guanrui
Senior Teacher (Biology)
Commonwealth Secondary School
Singapore
27th February 2019
