Bug FAQAfrican Weaver Ant
Oecophylla longinoda · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae
Also called: Red Tree Ant, Red Weaver Ant, Tailor Ant
Workers are about 6 mm long and range from orange-brown to dark brown, with fine hairs on the thorax and short erect hairs on the abdomen. They build nests in tree canopies by stitching leaves together with larval silk and are found throughout sub-Saharan African rainforests, often dominating the crowns of one or several trees. These ants are aggressive predators of other insects and also tend scale insects for honeydew, and a queen starts a colony alone in the canopy before workers take over foraging.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The ant’s colour varies from orange-brown to dark brown; the thorax has fine pubescence and the abdomen bears short, erect hairs.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
A worker ant measures about 6 mm (0.24 in) in length.
Source: Wikipedia
How to get rid of it
Baits targeting the invasive ant P. megacephala allow weaver ants to thrive and help control coconut bugs.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
They construct nests in trees by stitching leaves together with silk produced by their larvae. The species lives high in the canopy of sub-Saharan African rainforests, where a single colony can dominate one tree or spread across several.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
They are voracious predators, hunting insects and other arthropods on the ground and in trees, often cooperating to subdue large prey. The ants also collect honeydew from scale insects, maintaining herds of these insects for that purpose.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Oecophylla longinoda is an arboreal ant native to the forested regions of tropical Africa.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
The only other extant species in the genus Oecophylla is O. smaragdina.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do African weaver ants look like?
They range from orange-brown to dark brown, with fine hairs on the thorax and short erect hairs on the abdomen.
Source: Wikipedia
Where are African weaver ants found?
They live in the canopies of sub-Saharan African rainforests, building nests by stitching leaves together with larval silk.
Source: Wikipedia
What do African weaver ants eat?
They hunt insects and other arthropods and also tend scale insects for honeydew.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Formicidae)
Eastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your home
Red Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan sting
American Winter AntPrenolepis imparis
Argentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerous
Immigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan sting
Odorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your homeSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oecophylla_longinoda
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.