Green Tree Ants Oecophylla smaragdina dismember and cart off a grasshopper. These were photographed in Kakadu National Park, but if you live in tropical northern coastal Australia you are likely to have this species in your garden. Apparently they are quite keen on pet food. They can be useful pest controllers in the garden and commercial orchards.
Joseph Banks described their remarkable co-operative behaviour when nest building when he observed them in action whilst the naturalist accompanying Captain Cook to Australia in 1768. They make nests in trees by bringing leaves together and sticking them together with a substance produced by the larvae.
1 comment:
I like the way the grasshopper matches the ants......
the ants appearance must be down to food colouring!!
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