Minor workers are about 5–6 mm, major workers about 8–10 mm, and queens commonly around 20–25 mm.
Fine-art photographic collection
Oecophylla smaragdina
A canopy society that stitches living leaves together with silk borrowed from its larvae.
About this species
Asian weaver ant
Oecophylla smaragdina(Fabricius, 1775)
Information reviewed15 July 2026
Oecophylla smaragdina is an arboreal weaver ant distributed from South Asia to northern Australia. Workers form chains to pull leaves together, then carry silk-producing larvae along the seams. A single colony may occupy many nests across several connected trees and defend a large canopy territory.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Hymenoptera · Formicidae · Formicinae · Oecophyllini · Oecophylla
Accepted · checked 2026-07-15
Tropical Asia to northern AustraliaBroad documented localities — not a complete range map.
From India and southern China through Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea to northern Australia and parts of the western Pacific.
Tropical forest, mangroves, orchards, plantations and urban trees with flexible leaves suitable for nest construction.
Workers patrol the canopy day and night, with major workers dominating exposed foraging and territorial defence.
Predatory on many arthropods and also strongly dependent on carbohydrate-rich honeydew and plant exudates.
Polydomous colonies occupy many leaf nests. Most colonies have one queen, while total worker numbers can reach hundreds of thousands.
What makes this species remarkable?
Adult workers cannot spin silk, so they use their own larvae as living silk dispensers during construction.
Major and minor workers have strongly divided roles: majors patrol and defend, while minors concentrate on brood and nest interiors.
Weaver ants have a long history in biological control because territorial colonies attack many pests of tropical tree crops.
More photographs
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