Oecophylla

Oecophylla is a genus of ants, family Formicidae, subfamily Formicinae, tribe Oecophyllini, commonly called weaver ants or green ants, comprising three extant species along with 15 extinct species known from the Eocene to Miocene. Eusocial and obligately arboreal, weaver ants build nests by weaving together leaves with larval silk, forming colonies that can span more than a hundred nests across numerous trees and contain more than half a million workers; the genus shows a clear bimodal size distribution between worker castes, with major workers about 8 to 10 millimeters long handling foraging and defense while minors remain in the nest tending brood. Oecophylla longinoda inhabits Africa, while Oecophylla smaragdina ranges from India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to northern Australia and Melanesia; despite lacking a functional sting, the ants can inflict painful bites and often spray formic acid directly into the wound.