Abstract

The spinning, weaver or the red tree ant- Oecophylla smaragdina (Fabricius) is a familiar ant occurring in mango and other trees in the neighbourhood of houses. On account of its peculiarities a large amount of literature on its activities and habits has been published. Yet, its importance in agriculture, life history and habits have not been fully investigated. Therefore observations made on the ant in this region are given herounder. The nesting and food habits were olaborated by the early workers like Wroughton (1892-1893) and the spinning capacity by Aitken, (1889), Green (1903) and Doflein (1905). Further work on its behavioural patterns have been summarised by Morley (1953).

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