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Weaver ant eggs and larvae, as well as the ants, may be used in a Thai salad, yam (Thai: ยำ), in a dish called yam khai mot daeng (Thai: ยำไข่มดแดง) or red ant egg salad, a dish that comes from the Issan or north-eastern region of Thailand.
Weaver ants or green ants are eusocial insects of the Hymenoptera family Formicidae belonging to the tribe Oecophyllini. Weaver ants live in trees (they are obligately arboreal ) and are known for their unique nest building behaviour where workers construct nests by weaving together leaves using larval silk . [ 3 ]
The larvae prefer dry places protected from the rain. When it first hatches, the tiny larva specialises in very small insects, but as it grows larger, it constructs larger pits, and thus catches larger prey, sometimes much larger than itself. [24] Other arthropods may make use of the antlion larva's ability to trap prey.
The fungi, in turn, provide food and essential nutrients for the ant colony, which are particularly beneficial for young ant larvae. Watch the Video Click here to watch the video.
In return, the ants receive a saccharine secretion fortified with amino acids from an eversible gland on the larvae's back. [10] [11] As first instar larvae prepare to pupate, the ants carry the larvae into their nests. [10] Once the larvae become pupae, the ants continue to provide protection against predation and parasitism.
The fungus needs the ants to stay alive, and the larvae need the fungus to stay alive, so mutualism is obligatory. The fungi used by the higher attine ants no longer produce spores. These ants fully domesticated their fungal partner 15 million years ago, a process that took 30 million years to complete. [13]
Workers are known to produce their own eggs, but these eggs are unfertilised and hatch into male ants. [211] There is a chance of workers attacking a particular individual who has successfully produced male offspring due to a change in a workers cuticular hydrocarbon; cuticular hydrocarbons are believed to play a vital role in the regulation of ...
Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants.Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, [2] [3] in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. [4]