15 and 16 March 2008

A day in the life of a weaver ant

Before we exchange wonderful Thailand for the unknown Laos, we have to get something off our chest. This concerns a natural phenomenon we've encountered nowhere else. Actually it should be part of the chapter 'Bizarre scenes', but this phenomenon deserves its own story. For starters we stumble onto a conversation between Jane 1 and Wilma 5:

''Where were you, I've been hanging between these leaves for an hour now! It's a royal miracle I didn't get cramps!'
'Yes sorry, Wilma 5, I had trouble with one of the soldiers, I don't remember his name. It's the guy who always guards Nest number 8, the one with the loose hands. He didn't want to let me pass when I went to call the egg-men. He is such an aggressive type!'
'What do you mean he didn't want to let you pass?'
'He thought I was lazy and didn't want to help built Nest 15. And then there almost was a pile-up on the road, I had to mark another scent track three times and make a new path that way.'
'Okay, would you mind taking over my position for two minutes, I really have to stretch my six legs.'

'Yes, just let go, I've got hold of Fanny 16.'
'That's not Fanny 16, you've got the rear legs of Martha 7 in your claws!'
'Oh, that's very well possible. I always mix those two up. They are spitting images. Exactly the same legs!'
'Now that you mention it, I do have the same problem with those sci-fi heads of Gemma 21 and Petra 3. I always have to look twice before I'm sure.'
'Where are those egg-men? They must have had a party again last night. It's always the same with those guys. We do the working and pull the leaves together and they are lounging around the queen, and play Mister Nice Guy.'
'By the way, did you hear about the queen?'
'What do you mean, does she have some new gigolos again?'
'No, well, that's part of the gossip. But I actually mean something else.'
'Come on Wilma 5, spit it out. I've probably missed the news because of the to-do with the soldier.'
'Alright, here it comes. She's sent out two hundred scouts to find a suitable tree for Nest 16!'
'What? And we're not even halfway number 15! Is she gone off her rocker or what?'
'If you ask me, yes. We already run like idiots between those fourteen nests. The territory seems big enough to me. And my back still hurts from the last construction project.'
'Yes, not to mention the restoration of Nest 9 a little while ago, after that flying storm!'
'Jeez, I had almost forgotten the troubles with Nest 9; but I have to admit I wasn't surprised when it tore apart.'
'Why not?'
'Well, I never really liked the building concept. The natural leaf growth didn't match the desired building construction.'
'Gosh, you sound like a scout, you!'
'No, not at all. But you know, I had two days of leave then and the glue-ladies really made a mess of it.'
'Yes, that sounds good, Jane 1, but you're quite an ant-screwer and obsessed with details, aren't you?''
'Oh, if that only were true! Oh wait, the egg-men have arrived, my work starts.'
'Okay, I'll take Martha 7 again, then you can start squeezing. Watch out that you don't glue yourself to a leaf, just like the last time.' '
'No, that won't happen a second time. What a mess, that silk glue. It took me two hours to get the white trash of my breast. He, see you later and hold steady!'
Jane 1 runs towards the long expected egg-men.
'Egg-man 6 and 22! Over here please with those eggs, we start gluing at this spot. Hand me the first egg, yes, okay. Did everything go well on the way, no problems with the Thai?'
'No, not at all! They won't bother us for a mere five eggs. But when the new nest is freshly filled up, then it gets dangerous.'
'Yes, you are right. If you get another lot now, then I might be able to finish
here today.'
Skillfully, thanks to years of experience, Jane 1 holds the egg askew alongside the edge of the leaf that has to be glued and at the same time pinches the soft but firm egg with her strong jaws, which immediately emits a yellow-white substance.
'Pullers Hannah 4, Francine 2 and Dora 9! This way with the other leaf, yes, another small bit, yes, that's alright, it sticks. Hold it until the silk glue has dried, then I will do the other side in the meantime.'

Nest 15 turned out to be an enormous task, not in the least because of the wind that started blowing in the afternoon which made it extra hard for the pullers.
In a joint effort they have to pull the enormous leaves, often a thousand times their own size, together and this way form a bridge from leaf to leaf. When the right position is reached with a lot of effort and strength the glue-ladies, mockingly called gluettes by the others, have to glue the leaves together with the egg-glue, as quick and secure as possible.
This afternoon the wind caused three accidents: two pullers fell from the tree after a sudden gust of wind, a falling branch crushed a third puller who, tragically, was just before her retirement.
They didn't manage to finish the nest and to everyone's chagrin had to put in overtime. But before dawn a beautiful new nest adorned the tree, very well camouflaged against unwanted egg-thieves.

So it is plain to see that the life of weaver ants isn't all roses.

During three months of cycling in Thailand we see many weaver ant nests in the trees: small houses of leaves glued together.
At first Peter was convinced they were spider nests, until one fine day he decided to take a look inside one of them... Something he'd better not done.
Even before he pulled two glued leaves apart his arms were covered up to the elbows in dozens of very agitated red weaver ants, who didn't ask any questions but immediately started biting: the aggressive soldiers. He is sure the nasty guard from Nest 8 was one of them.
So Peter learned another valuable lesson: keep your hands off any weaver ant nest, no matter what number.
A colony of weaver ants, lead by a single queen, can have up to seventeen nests in various trees, which are numbered by them for efficiency sake. The area where the nests are placed is their territory, which is defended in a very aggressive way, if necessary by committing suicide.
The hard workers are almost all female, the soldiers are 'real' men or hardened females.
There are more ants in every colony then available names, which is quite unhandy. To discern between them every ant gets a name and an individual number.

The weaver ants (Oecophylla Smaragdina) are very special ants. By working together very well they are able to build nests of the leaves of all kinds of trees; even the enormous leaves of the teak tree. The nest are used to hide the eggs from intruders, like some kinds of spiders and the Thai, who like to use the eggs in one of their delicious dishes, for the sour taste.

On our journey ants, together with mosquitos and flies, are the main animal annoyances. But we also have a lot of respect for ants. After all, all the world's ants together weigh the same as the entire human kind.
And: they've been here longer than we are. Did the first Homo Sapiens set an unsure foot on this planet a mere 50 thousand years ago, the ant was here 100 million years before them. No annoyance, but humility and respect are in place.