科學圖說

編織夢想家(Weaver Ant Dream Home)

凶狠的編織蟻不以地底為巢，反而以枝條上的葉子「編織」成家。猶如一支精良部隊，工蟻們咬住葉緣，以腳爪及褥盤固定住，團結齊力將葉子拉近或反捲作為巢壁；若有葉子過於遙遠，工蟻們甚至將身體串連在一起，後者咬住前者的腹部前端，一隻接一隻，如同拔河般，形成「螞蟻鎖鏈」，甚至是「螞蟻橋梁」！精彩好戲正要開始上演，這是編織蟻最令人訝異的行為模式─工蟻輕咬終齡幼蟲，如同身體的延伸，刺激幼蟲來回吐絲，以黏合葉子。在編織蟻的世界裡，孩子是要付出相當辛勞的，不過也完成一個遮風避雨的家。

The aggressive weaver ant lives in trees, unlike other ants which are ground dwelling. Groups of workers construct nests by weaving together leaves. They act like a well-trained military unit. The workers bite the leaf margins and use their tarsal claws and pulvilli to fix the leaf in place. Then, they work together to pull the leaves closer or to roll them to make the nest walls. If the gap between two leaves is too big, the workers will form a chain by grasping onto each other’s petiole (anterior end of abdomen). The following behavior is most astonishing. They gently bite last instar larvae and stimulate them to excrete larval silk which is used for binding the leaves together. In the world of the weaver ant, juveniles work hard. But their contribution leads to a strong nest that provides protection from the wind and rain.