How to translate text using browser tools
25 May 2017 Geographic Distribution of the African Weaver Ant, Oecophylla longinoda
James K Wetterer
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

African weaver ants, Oecophylla longinoda (Latreille, 1802), are conspicuous arboreal ants, well known in the humid tropics of Africa. Weaver ants build large distinctive nest structures in trees by binding together clusters of leaves using a silk-like substance. Although many regard weaver ants as pests due to their bite, local people also use weaver ants for food, medicine, and as biological control agents. Here, I mapped the geographic distribution of O. longinoda based on >500 site records from 34 countries: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The documented range of O. longinoda is confined almost entirely within areas with Tropical (Group A) climates as defined by the Köppen-Geiger system: rainforest (Af), monsoon (Am), and savanna (Aw). This range map based on site records corrects inaccuracies in earlier published range maps, and allows prediction of areas where O. longinoda might be expected to occur, but it has not yet been reported.

James K Wetterer "Geographic Distribution of the African Weaver Ant, Oecophylla longinoda," Transactions of the American Entomological Society 143(2), 501-510, (25 May 2017). https://doi.org/10.3157/061.143.0215
Published: 25 May 2017
KEYWORDS
biocontrol
biogeography
entomophagy
geographic range
tailor antPage Break
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top