INTERESTING INSECTS IN ASIA: FIREFLIES, ANTS, GIANT BUTTERFLIES, WALKING STICKS

INTERESTING INSECTS IN ASIA

There are some big insects in Southeast Asia. A 10-inch grasshopper capable of leaping 15 feet lives along the Thailand-Malaysia border. The largest known social wasps are the queens of the Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia). They can have a body length exceeding 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) and a 9.3-centimeter (3.7-inch) wingspan. See Stick Insects Below

In a forest in Indonesia in the 1850s, Alfred Russel Wallace was amazed by the fragrance of roses. He was even more surprised when he discovered the smell came from tiger beetles not flowers. The two-faced fulgorid is an insect with fake eyes, antenna and beak planted on its wing tips and tail. The bug seems to hop backwards and if attacked, it loses a bit of wing not its life. A species of moth from Southeast Asia has a sharp proboscis that pierces the skin of host and sucks its blood.

Beetles are the most plentiful family of animals known. There are lots of them in Asia and new ones are being discovered all the time. In December 2014, scientists from Germany and the Indonesian Research Center of Biology announced they had discovered 98 new species of beetle — all in the genus Trigonopterus — in Indonesia. Rachel Feltman wrote in the Washington Post: The scientists searched the leaf litter of island forests and found 99 members of the genus — only one of which had previously been discovered. Many of the species seem to live only in small populations in a single location, the researchers report. Because the beetles are small and can't fly, they very quickly become isolated from other clusters of bugs. So it doesn't take long for those little groups to evolve into completely different species. [Source: Rachel Feltman, Washington Post December 22, 2014]

The researchers blazed through the process of sequencing the new beetles' DNA. Because a lot of the rainforest in the area is now being eyed as potential farmland, they wanted to do their best to quickly show just how diverse and delicate the beetle population is. Of course, 98 new species means 98 new names. The researchers named some for color and some for location, a few for body shape and some using Indonesian numbers. But they did indulge in one classic choice: Trigonopterus attenboroughi is named for the famed naturalist David Attenborough, joining a long and diverse list of species dedicated in his honor.

Leeches and spiders are not insects but we'll throw them in here anyway because there are a lot of them in Asia. Leeches are found mostly found in damp forests in Asia. One photographer working in rain forests of Sabah in the wet season said he picked of 20 leeches a day. Particularly nasty are the infamous thread leeches of Borneo which cling to reeds in fresh water streams and suck the blood the unwary drinkers. They are particularly fond of gathering on the inside of their hosts lungs, mouth, esophagus, stomach and intestines. ”Orsima formica”, a species of Southeast Asian spider, has a head that head that looks like the thorax of a beetle and abdomen that looks the head, complete with antenna and jaws. One scientist called a "spectacular spider" that "looks like a little iridescent beetle built backwards." The spiders is able t escape from predators that anticipate the spider will flee in one direction when it actually flees in the opposite direction.[Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York]

Websites and Resources on Insects and Bugs: BugGuide bugguide.net ; Amateur Entomologists' Society amentsoc.org ; MDPI Insects mdpi.com/journal/insects; National Geographic on Bugs National Geographic ; Smithsonian bug info si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo ; Insect Images.org insectimages.org ; Obervations, the Naturalist inaturalist.org/observations ; Safrinet Manual for Entomology and Arachnology SPC web.archive.org ; Books: Insects (Smithsonian Handbooks)

Websites and Resources on Animals: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; BBC Earth bbcearth.com; A-Z-Animals.com a-z-animals.com; Live Science Animals livescience.com; Animal Info animalinfo.org ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF) worldwildlife.org the world’s largest independent conservation body; National Geographic National Geographic ; Endangered Animals (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) iucnredlist.org

Invasive Species of Insect from Asia

brown marmorated stink bug

Pests that originated in Japan that have caused problems around the world include: 1) tiger mosquito, thought to have entered the United States in a shipment of used tires; 2) tsugakasa aburamushi, a hemlock-killing aphid thought to have entered the United States in a shipment of hemlock wood from Japan; and 3) brown marmorated stink bugs, dime-size shield-shaped creatures that give off an unpleasant smell when squashed or irritated. The latter first arrived in the United States in Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2001 and are now found in 29 states.

Invaders from China causing trouble include the Chinese longhorn beetles that probably hitched a ride in the timber of shipping pallets or containers is threatening North American forests. The insects first appeared in Brooklyn and from there spread to Central Park in Manhattan then Chicago and then around the United States. The U.S. government has spent over $175 million trying to get rid of tree-killing Asian long-horned beetle.

Describing the presence of the Asia-originating emerald ash borer at work in the U.S., Steve Nash wrote in the Washington Post, “A little beyond earshot of the Capitol, in the leafy suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, the chewing sounds may soon be getting loud. As spring arrives, a metallic green Asian beetle that feasts on ash trees may appear in the landscape as it did briefly last fall. The emerald ash borer probably first arrived at a Great Lakes port in wooden packing material on Korean or Chinese freighters a couple of years ago; since then, it has destroyed 6 million trees in Michigan and has also shown up in Ohio and Canada. A few weeks ago, ash trees near Wolf Trap in Virginia that might have been infested were cut down in an effort to halt any spread of the pest in this area. With luck, it'll work. But if it doesn't, there's a real possibility the borer could do to Eastern ash trees what an Asian blight did to chestnuts in the first half of the last century -- wipe them out. [Source: Steve Nash, Washington Post, April 14, 2004]

World's Longest Insects

In 2014, the world's longest insect — a 62.4 centimeter (24.6 inch) stick insect — was found in a tropical forest in the southern province of Guangxi. The insect, a new type of stick insect, named "Phryganistria chinensis Zhao" after the researcher Zhao Li who discovered it after spending years looking for the bug after hearing accounts of a giant insect from locals. "I was collecting insects on a 1,200-meter-tall (3,937-foot) mountain in Guangxi's Liuzhou City on the night of Aug. 16, 2014, when a dark shadow appeared in the distance, which looked like a tree twig," Li told Xinhua. "As I went near, I was shocked to find the huge insect's legs were as long as its body." The previous longest insect was also a stick insect that measured in at 56.5 centimeters (22.3 inches) and was from Malaysia. [Source: Kelly Dickerson, Mic, May 9, 2016]

large stick insect

The wild female described above was taken to the Insect Museum of West China in Chengdu where it was measured being at 62.4 centimeters (24.6 inches) in total length (including extended legs) and having a body length of 36.1 centimeters (14.2 inches). It was was surpassed by one of its captive bred young that reached 64 centimeters (25 inches) in total length and was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's longest insect in September 2017. [Source: Wikipedia]

“Pharnacia kirby” is a very long stick insect found in the rain forests of Borneo. For a while it was regarded as the world's longest insect. According to the Guinness Book of Records in the 1980s, one specimen had a body length of 32.7 centimeters (12.9 inches) or 50.8 centimeters (20 inches) including legs. Until the discovery in China in 2014 the world's longest insect — nearly two feet long — was among more than 100 new species discovered in the remote rainforests of Borneo in the late 2000s. Richard Alleyne wrote in The Telegraph: “The stick insect, which measures 55.9 centimeters (22 inches) long, was among the 123 new creatures discovered in the Heart Of Borneo, an 85,000 square mile conservation area set up in 2007. The amazing creature, which lives in the high tree canopies of the forest and is known as Phobaeticus chani, has been donated to the Natural History Museum in London. [Source: Richard Alleyne, The Telegraph, April 22, 2010]

A few years earlier another really long stick insect was found in Borneo. Raphael G. Satter of Associated Press wrote: Nearly the length of a human arm, a recently identified stick bug from the island of Borneo is the world's longest insect, British scientists. The specimen was found by a local villager and handed to Malaysian amateur naturalist Datuk Chan Chew Lun in 1989, according to Philip Bragg, who formally identified the insect in this month's issue of peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The insect was named Phobaeticus chani, or "Chan's megastick," in Chan's honor. [Source: Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press October 16, 2008]

Paul Brock, a scientific associate of the Natural History Museum in London unconnected to the animal's discovery said there was no doubt it was the longest extant insect ever found. Looking more like a solid shoot of bamboo than its smaller, frailer cousins, the dull-green insect measures about 22 inches (56.7 centimeters), if its delicate, twig-like legs are counted. There are 14 inches (35.7 centimeters) from the tip of its head to the bottom of its abdomen, beating the previous record body length, held by Phobaeticus kirbyi, also from Borneo, by about an inch (2.9 centimeters).

Phasmids — Stick Insects

Phasmids — better known as stick insects, stick bugs and walking sticks — have some of the animal kingdom's cleverest camouflage. Although some phasmids use noxious sprays or prickly spines to deter their predators, generally the bugs assume the shape of sticks and leaves to avoid drawing attention. "Their main defense is basically hanging around, looking like a twig," Brock said. "It will even sway in the wind." For Bragg, who works as a schoolteacher and catalogues stick bugs as a hobby, the discovery showed the urgency of conservation work. "There aren't enough specialists around to work on all the insects in the world," he said. "There's going to be stuff that's extinct before anyone gets around to describing it." The Phobaeticus chani is now a part of the Natural History Museum's "Creepy Crawlies" gallery. [Source: Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press October 16, 2008]

Phryganistria chinensis Zhao measuring 640 centimeters

The longest insect is the giant Chinese stick insect (Phryganistria chinensis), which can grow to be over 63.5 centimeters (25 inches) long and is described above. Chan's megastick (Phobaeticus chani) — a stick insect from Borneo — has a record length of 56.7 centimeters (also see above). Phobaeticus chani, also known by its synonym Sadyattes chani, is a species of stick insect in the tribe Pharnaciini. The specimen at the Natural History Museum in London that measures 56.7 centimeters (22.3 inches) had its front legs fully extended. The body alone measured 35.7 centimeters (14.1 inches). Pharnacia serratipes — A walking stick from the Malay Peninsula — has a record length of 55.5 centimeters. [Source: Google AI]

Stick insects are found worldwide, but are most common in tropical and subtropical regions. Other long insects including the jungle nymph stick insect (Heteropteryx dilatata). It is one of the heftier stick insects, and can weigh up to 65 grams. Phobaeticus chani was selected as one of "The Top 10 New Species" described in 2008 by the International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University and an international committee of taxonomists. The species was also listed as one of the top 10 discoveries of the decade in the BBC television documentary Decade of Discovery, first broadcast on December 14, 2010.

World’s Largest Bee, Once Though Extinct, Rediscovered in Indonesia

Wallace’s giant bee (Megachile pluto) was first discovered in 1859 by the eminent scientist Alfred Russel Wallace. Then it disappeared for more than a century, until it was found again in in 1981 by entomologist Adam Messer, who it on three islands in the North Moluccas in Indonesia. He collected a specimen and wrote about his discovery in 1984. In 2019, it was photographed and filmed alive in the wild for the first time by a team including nature photographer Clay Bolt. [Source: Douglas Main, National Geographic, February 22, 2019]

Wallace’s giant bee grows up to 3.75 centimeters (an inch and a half) long with a wingspan of 6.3 centimeters (2.5 inches). It has large mandibles that almost look like those of a stag beetle, which it uses to scrape sticky resin off trees to build burrows within termite nests, where females raise their young. Like other bees, it feeds on nectar and pollen. Messer wrote in 1984 that it remains rare in its range. It is solitary and lives only in aerial termite mounds, one reason it is so hard to find. It was collected in 1991 by a French researcher but he not film or photograph it.

Douglas Main wrote in National Geographic: Many have become intrigued by the insect, including Nicolas Vereecken, an entomologist and ecologist at the University of Brussels. He studies bee diversity and was naturally interested to see the world’s largest. Over a decade ago, he sought out a specimen collected by Wallace himself, housed at Oxford Natural History Museum. That only made him want to learn more. Early in 2018, at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands, he stumbled across a specimen collected in 1991 by a French researcher named Roch Desmier de Chenon, who was by some to be dead but was found living in Melbourne, Australia. Chenon, who was 80 in 2019, was working for the Indonesian Oil Palm Research Institute in 1991 when he decided to search for Wallace's giant bee on the island of Halmahera. Locals, some of whom were familiar with the bee, guided him to a particular tree where the insects collect sap. He says over the course of his research he saw about 20 to 30 of the giants, though he only collected one.

In January 2019, Bolt and trip member Eli Wyman, a biologist at Princeton, were overjoyed to find the bee on their expedition. One of the most notable things about the bee, a female, was the sound of her wings: a “deep, slow thrum that you could almost feel as well as hear,” Bolt says. Wyman says he could feel the displacement of air as she flew by. “Such an incredible, tangible experience from an animal that had only lived in my imagination for years,” he adds.

“Bolt traveled to Indonesia with Wyman, Australian biologist Simon Robson, and writer Glen Chilton in January 2019. After five days of fruitlessly searching termite mounds in trees during the rainy season, the team had begun to feel a bit discouraged. They were about to call it a day, Bolt says, when they searched one last nest — which had a resiny hole within. After several members of the party climbed up to take a took, it became clear there was a bee in the hole. They put a collection tube at the exit, and a full-sized female Wallace’s giant bee crawled out. “We yelled and screamed and hugged each other,” Robson says. After photographing and filming it, they let it go and it returned to the nest. Unlike some of its relatives, the bee seemed “very relaxed” and non-aggressive, Bolt adds.

Interesting Insects Found in Malaysia

In the Gombak Valley there is a species a praying mantis that looks just like a pink orchid. When the insect sits on a flower it is virtually indistinguishable from the blooms around it. When it rests on a leaf it looks as if the leaf has sprouted an orchid. The insect catches prey by pretending to be a bloom, and snatching nectar-seeking insects that come to feed with its pink spiked forelegs. Flanges on the insects legs look just like petals. They will even gently rock back and fort to imitate a blossom blowing in a breeze. [Source: Edward S. Ross, National Geographic, September 1965, ┟];

Mantis Hymenopus coronatus

The caterpillar of the "stauropus" moth looks like a decayed leaf. It is often seen hanging upside down from a leaf. When provoked it rears up on its front legs and sprays a powerful acid on intruders. The "Euthalia" caterpillar has a stripe down its backs and about two dozen long hairy spins. The camouflage, which looks like the veins on a leaf, make the insect blend in the with the foliage behind it.┟

The assassin bug entraps insects with sticky white secretion on it its front legs. When the prey is caught the assassin bug sticks it beak into the victim and sucks out its body fluids. The tiger beetle is a species of insect so distasteful to other insects it can walk around virtually unmolested. The false tiger beetle is a tasty katydids which avoids attacks by taking on the appearance of it undesirable look-alike.┟

The plant hopper nymph feeds on plant juices with a tubelike mouth. After obtaining nutrients from the sap it ejects the waxlike residue in such a way that it creates a tail that look laser-like pulses. Glands arranged like a spaghetti press form the tail by pushing out filaments composed of microscopic hollow tubes. The tail may deter predators or simple break way as a false tail when the nymph is attacked.

Rhinoceros and Stag Beetles

Stag beetles are large beetles with fearsome-looking mandibles that are nearly as long as the beetle's body and resemble the antlers of a stag. Stag beetles and rhinoceros beetles mop up tree sap. Only male rhinoceros beetles have horns. Male stag beetles have longer mandibles than females.

Stag beetles possess mandibles that are nearly as long as the beetle's body and resemble the antlers of a stag. Varying in lengths from 0.6 centimeters to 8.5 centimeters, they are smooth, black or reddish brown. Males are larger than females and have enlarged mandibles that are used in fights over females. There are about 1,000 species of stag and rhinoceros beetles in the world. Generally found in the forests and mountains around rotted logs and oak trees, the Japanese species are between 5 centimeters and 8 centimeters in length and hibernate in the winter.

orchid mantis

In the wild, stag beetles are active mostly at night. Despite their large size they, like all beetles, can fly. Eggs are laid in decaying tree stumps or roots. Larvae live in rotten logs or are buried in the soil, feeding on rotten wood. Once they are large enough they pupate. Adults either do not feed on drink fluids such as nectar or sap, which they can smell.

Kevin Short wrote in the Daily Yomiuri, “Male rhinoceros beetles have huge horns and solid, heavily-armored tanklike bodies. They use their brushy mouthparts to mop up the sap that issues from the trunks of oak trees, and are thus very common in coppice woodlands. The larvae develop underground, in soft, humid substrate such as found in rotting logs or fermenting compost. [Source: Kevin Short, Daily Yomiuri, July 8, 2010]

“Male rhinoceros beetles are highly territorial. They stake out a good feeding spot and wait for females to arrive. All other males they challenge as opponents and competitors. A fight consists of two males trying to bulldoze each other off of the tree trunk. If one combatant gets his long front horn underneath his opponent, he uses it to flip him off into space.

Mantids in Asia

Mantids (praying mantises) have a special place in Asia. Taryn L. Salinas wrote on the National Geographic website: Although in many parts of Asia mantids are often considered pets and are frequently handled lovingly, they have also been used as fighting animals, battling to the death in bamboo cages. In fact, several styles of kung fu, known as Tang Lang in Chinese, were inspired by the insect's merciless and predatory maneuvers. Practitioners of the praying mantis style imitate the tactics that the creature uses to trap and maim its prey.

The Chinese mantid was accidentally introduced into the United States in 1896 and now is widespread. In China mantids have entertained people for at least a thousand years. Some Asians still wager on caged mantids that fight to the death.

Most of the roughly 1,800 known species of mantids spend their time sitting and waiting for prey. What looks like prayer position is actually a ready-pounce position. Mantids are harmless to people. [Source: Mark W. Moffett, National Geographic, January 2006]

Mantids are masters of camouflage. Some of the most spectacular species are Asian varieties that effective, ingenious and, often times, stunningly beautiful disguises that allow prey to come with grasping range. The yellowish Burmese flower mantid blends in with the yellow stamens of certain flowers. Greenish juveniles blend in with leaves.

Mark W. Moffett wrote in National Geographic. “Mantids can also mimic leaves, grass, twigs, stones, even ants. The body of the dead-leaf mantid perfectly imitates withered foliage When a predator disturbs this dead-leaf mantid on the Malaysian forest floor, the insect rears up in a frightening threat display, rattling its wings. Spine-studded forelimbs folded beneath its head create the illusion of a giant gape.

Syncronized-Blinking Fireflies

cloud of fireflies

Thick clouds of fireflies are found along some rivers in Southeast Asia.Some of the most spectacular firefly displays in the world are in the mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia, particularly along some creeks in Malaysia and Borneo. The “Pteroptyx”, one of at least 130 species of firefly in the region, is particularly interesting. In the State of Johore tens of thousands of male from this species gather at a mangrove tree about 75 feet from the house of Ahmad bin Khamis and flash on and off in unison. [Source: Paul Zahl, National Geographic, July 1971, ╺]

First a group on a branch starts blinking on and off together. The other fireflies on the tree pick up on their cue, and after a while the whole tree is a mass of yellow lights blinking in perfect sync. The fireflies seem to be synchronized by some sort of internal clock. Their pulse rate varies slightly with temperature.

David Attenborough wrote: “As the sun sinks and dusk falls, scattered flashes begin to blink in the mangrove trees. Arcs of staccato light, like the plumes of tiny fireworks, curve through the gloom as single beetles fly from one branch to another. Minute by minute their numbers increase. Branches silhouetted against the sky become laced with tiny points of flashing light...Slowly the confusion of flashes begins to resolve itself into an order as the many thousands of insects synchronize their rhythms. Eventually the whole tree, as a single unit, begins to pulse with light...Those trees that illuminated often stand isolated above the rippling reflections with their pulsating lights outshining the stars.”

Thick clouds of fireflies gather along the rivers in Borneo In the lowland areas you can find bioluminescent beetle larvae called starworm that produce a greenish light as they crawl among the fallen leaves at night

World's Largest Butterflies and Moths

The largest lepidopteran (butterfly and moth) species overall is often claimed to be either the Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae), a butterfly from Papua New Guinea, or the Atlas moth (Attacus atlas), a moth from Southeast Asia. Both of these species can reach a body length of 8 centimeters (3.1 inches), a wingspan of 28 centimeters (11 inches) and a weight of 12 grams (0.42 ounces). One Atlas moth allegedly had a wingspan of 30 centimeters (12 inches) but this measurement was not verified.The larvae of the Queen Alexandra's birdwing can weigh up to 58 grams (2.0 ounces). The larvae of the Atlas moth can weigh up to 54 grams (1.9 ounces).

Raja Brooke Birdwings

Matthew Teague wrote in National Geographic: “Of the planet’s roughly 20,000 species of butterflies, swallowtails are especially intriguing to collectors. The more than 560 swallowtails include the world’s largest butterflies — birdwings — and some of the most expensive and threatened. They face a triple menace of habitat loss, climate change, and poaching. Thanks to conservation programs and anti-poaching laws, swallowtails are surviving despite a black market where prices start in the pennies and run into the thousands for protected species. [Source: Matthew Teague, National Geographic, August 2018]

Among the most coveted species are the Queen Alexandra's birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae). It and the Goliath Birdwing are the two largest butterflies in the world. The wingspan of the female Queen Alexandra's Birdwing can reach 31 cm (12.2 inches). Both of these are found in Papua New Guinea. Microscopic scales on their scatter light, creating iridescent colors and patterns that likely help attract mates. Luzon Peacock swallowtail (Papilio chikae) was discovered in 1965; traders often mislabel this species to elude law enforcement. Wallace's golden birdwing is named after the famed naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, who nearly fainted at first sight of its beauty. “A coveted half-male, half-female gynandromorph can occur if a fertilized egg unevenly divides into the two cells that form each side of a butterfly’s body.

The Raja Brooke Birdwing is one of the world’s largest, rarest and most colorful butterflies. Native to the rain forest Borneo, it brilliantly colored and has a wingspan of 6 to 12 inches. It was first caught by Alfred Russell Wallace who named after a fried in Sarawak. One reason its so rarely seen is that it spends most of its time in the upper canopy. Wallace wrote: "The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand the intense excitement I felt when I at length captured it...my heart began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I felt much more like fainting than I have done with immediate apprehension of death. I had a headache the rest of the day." Today a prepared pair of birdwing butterflies sell for up to $2,500 on the black market.

The Malukas in Indonesia , particularly Seram Island, is known for its butterflies. There are some very large spices there. Pegunungan Arfak (Arfak mountains) on the bird’s head in West Papua, in the Indonesian part of New Guinea is famous for its butterflies, Bird wing butterflies found in Papua are dried and sold abroad for as much as $350 a pair. The Hafam people in the central Arfak mountains raise pupae from these valuable insect in forest gardens.

Ants in Asia

weaver ant nest in Thailand

Asian jumping ants, known for their ability to make great startling leaps, seize prey between their long mandibles and then bring their stinger underneath their body bodies, through, their legs, to inject their victims with lethal venom. Tree ants in Southeast Asia construct nests by sewing leaves together. This is don by three groups of ants: two draw the leaves together while one sews it. No adult insect can produce silk so they bring larvae and squeeze out their silk. [Source: Mark Moffett, National Geographic, August 1986 [┦]

Accounts of early explorers to Borneo described "ant marches," in which "glistening rivers of warrior ants, eight miles long, hundreds of yard wide and a foot deep...consumed everything in their path, then mysteriously" disappeared. On the their journey through Borneo the Blair brothers found the swarms of highly venomous brown sweat bees to be their biggest problem. They particularly like armpits and "were solely after the salt in our sweat," they said, "and settles softly all over us, like fur coats of venom." Once Loren was stung so badly in the back of the neck he went blind for almost an hour." [Source: "Ring of Fire" by Lawrence and Lorne Blair, Bantam Books, New York]

Weaver ants, found in the tropics of Asia, Africa and Australia, are one of the world's most fascinating ant species. They claim territories of 20 or more trees, the largest of any ant species, and live in treetop nests woven from leaves. To get to hard to reach places weaver ants form chains, with one ant grasping on to the waist another and so on. For food, they raise aphids, as if they were cows, and consume their honeydew sweet feces as they were milk or cheese.

Weaver ants bind leaves together to produce nests. To make a nest scores of ants work together to pull leaves together with their feet attached to one end and the mandibles attached to another and then bind them together A single colony may consist of dozens of nest that the ants will aggressively defend. Weaver ants also work together to kill and carry prey. One scientist observed a group of 50 weaver ants carrying a hermit crab up a tree.

Marauder Ants

Marauder ants are found throughout southeast Asia, southern China, Sri Lanka, southwestern India, Taiwan, the Philippines and most of the Islands of Indonesia. They are famous for organizing themselves into military-style units, up to four meters wide, that are attack prey such as worms, centipedes, cockroaches, spiders, scorpions, and frogs, all of which are many times larger than themselves. The marauding ants overpower their prey by sheer numbers. [National Geographic, December 1988].

Like most ant species marauders have different group members which perform different tasks. Most of the hunting is done by fierce-looking majors that are about three quarters of an inch in length. The queens are even larger and they can out when outweigh by smallest caste, the tenth of an inch minors, a thousand times. Minors are the foot soldiers of the marauder ant army.

Describing how they subdue prey thousands of times larger than themselves, biologist Mark Moffet wrote in National Geographic: "After being restrained by the minor workers, large prey are then bitten repeatedly by medias and majors, and their limbs are torn off...Without killing them, the ants render [their victims] helpless, to be ripped asunder within the ant's nest." The ants also work together to carry seeds and lizard eggs back to the nest.

Scientist that work around marauder ants usually make sure to tuck their pant legs into their socks. The ants can't sting but the majors can bite hard enough to draw blood and you can imagine what it is like when hundreds of them bite at one time. The scientist work for a couple of minutes until the ants crawl up their bodies and reach their arms and necks. Then they dash away, scrape the ants off, and return again.

Marauder Ants Trails

Marauder ants build trail on which food is carried to their the nest. Some of these trails can reach a lengths of 300 feet (the equivalent of 30 miles for human). Sometimes a thousand ants a minute will pass a single spot. Obstacles are removed by bulldozer-like majors with a tiny minors riding on their head, giving the larger ants directions. If an obstacle is too large to move it is either chewed by the ants or a tunnel is built underneath it. Off of the trunk trail the ants form raiding parties six to twelve feet across. The swarms of eat forage for plant matter (about half of their diet) and gobble up any worm or centipede that gets in their way.┦

Mark Moffet told the Los Angeles Times: “Marauder ants in Asia clash in broad fronts of tens of thousands and mow each other down. Creatures that feed on marauder ants include flies, large insects, birds and other ants. Battles between armies of different species of ant are not uncommon with major marauder ants killing their victims with "crushing blows" and minors tearing their opponents apart a piece at a time. The dead are buried by the side of the trail.┦

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated February 2025