The October bird watching outing at Lalbagh introduced me not just to many amazing birds but also to the diligent fire ants. There was a huge colony of ants at work over a trelis, binding the leaves together (did you know that many ants gather together at the ends of the leaf to make it bend backwards and then secure it to the other end using the sticky substance that they secrete), making nests and gathering food. I wondered where in that humungous maze of leaf-nests the queen ant rested, while the sterile workers (all female) went about their jobs. Worth many more hours of observation ...
3 comments:
Although these ants can like many ants sting, they appear to be a species of Oecophylla and they have a pretty mild sting compared to most of the species called "fire ants", but that's how common names are.
Yes these babies can sting, I got my share when I was climbing my rambutan tree! But when they are gone from the tree, I noticed we got less fruits last year..
That was interesting piece of information. Ants really do work hard!
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