Green Ants: Engineering with Living Glue-sticks

Nest-building teamwork (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

During my recent stay in Australia, I became acquainted with "green ants." Belonging to the family Formicidae, these minute laborers produce formic acid in their gaster (posterior abdominal region), making them unpalatable to many would-be predators. Any decent Aussie will take the time to demonstrate how this chemical feature allows you to lick the ant's posterior and receive a sharp bitter sensation lasting up to several minutes. Next time you're in northern Australia, don't pass up the opportunity! Strictly eusocial in nature, a colony of green ants will work together to construct an arboreal nest, or series of nests, by binding together living leaves found nearby on the branch. To achieve this feat, the ants grasp on to each others' waists to form a chain between adjacent leaves; shortening the chain by one link at a time brings the two leaves in close proximity. At the same time, other workers will retrieve their silk-producing larvae from the interior of the nest, and hold them in such a way as to smear silk along the seam between two leaves, binding them together. Imagine that! Using your kids as glue-sticks to engineer your home.

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