Minor workers are about 5 mm and majors around 8–10 mm.
Fine-art photographic collection
Oecophylla longinoda
An African canopy architect that stitches leaves with silk from its larvae.
About this species
African weaver ant
Oecophylla longinoda(Latreille, 1802)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Oecophylla longinoda is the African weaver ant. Workers pull living leaves together and use silk-producing larvae to bind the edges into nests spread across the canopy.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Oecophylla
Source checked · checked 2026-07-15
Sub-Saharan AfricaBroad documented localities — not a complete range map.
Tropical sub-Saharan Africa.
Rainforest, woodland, savanna trees, orchards and plantations.
Active through the canopy by day and night, with major workers patrolling territorial routes.
Arthropod prey, honeydew, nectar and plant secretions.
Large polydomous colonies occupy many leaf nests and may contain hundreds of thousands of workers.
What makes this species remarkable?
Workers form chains with their bodies to draw distant leaf edges together.
Larvae are carried like living glue guns to apply silk.
Territorial colonies are used in biological control of pests in African tree crops.
Sources and scientific references
More photographs
21