THEADVANTAGEOFWEAVER

ANTSINAGRICULTURE
A Paper
Submitted to fulfill English Subject Final Assignment
Teacher: Opan Sofwan, M.Ed.

Created by:

YULIA RAHMAWATI
0708.10.034
XII Science 1

SMA NEGERI 1 BALEENDAH

BANDUNG
2010

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

ABSTRACT
Weaver ants commonly found nested in a variety of trees, like fruit trees.
The presence of weaver ants in the trees often regarded as a nuisance especially
when going to harvesting, because the bite is ill. Weaver ant is known well by its
painful bite resulting in intense discomfort. So that people avoid this creature and
consider it as something frightening.
Behind it all, weaver ants have the advantage for human especially in
agriculture. For example, their eggs are known well for bird feeding. However it
can bring profit because its sold Rp 30.000,00 per kilogram. Beside that weaver
ants also have benefit in pest extermination. It is better than using pesticide.

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

PREFACE
In the name of Allah SWT, the Author want to say thanks to God, because
only Gods bless and help I can finish my paper which entitled The Advantage of
Weaver Ants in Agriculture.
This paper is made for complete the order of English teacher as a final
assignment.
This paper is talk about the advantage of weaver ants in agriculture.
Weaver ant is known well by its painful bite resulting in intense discomfort. So
that people avoid this creature and consider it as something frightening. Weaver
ants often make nest on many kind of tree including fruit tree. Weaver ants are
considered by people as bothering animal to the tree. But actually, is there any
advantage from this kind of ants?
Hopefully this paper can be useful to whosever read this paper. For sure
the author need developed critics and suggestions for better paper in the future.
In this case, the author would say thanks to:

Allah SWT

Drs. H. Aa Sudaya, M.Pd. as the headmaster of SMAN 1 Baleendah

Opan Sofwan, M.Ed. as English teacher

My parents and my sister, who support me until now

All my friends in XII Science 1

Other people that the author cant list one by one

Bandung, April 2010

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
Ant is a small creature that is belittle by human. This kind of animal that
included in Insect is considered as a disturbing animal because its bite. Ant makes
a colony that contains more than 500.000 ants, or 4.000-6.000 ants per nest. The
big amount of ant causes they can do many things that sometime harmful for
human, such as take our foods.
In this case, the author focuses on weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina).
Weaver ant is known well by its painful bite resulting in intense discomfort. So
that people avoid this creature and consider it as something frightening.
On the other hand, weaver ants have many benefits. For example, their
eggs are known well for bird feeding. However it can bring profit because its
sold Rp 30.000,00 per kilogram. Beside that weaver ants also have benefit in pest
extermination. It is better than using pesticide.
Because the reason above, the author would like to write about the
advantage of weaver ants in agriculture.

1.2. Problem Statement

What is the advantage of weaver ants in agriculture?

How they do that action or process?

How farmers can make use of weaver ants?

Do weaver ants prefer food containing protein to glucose so they dont

eat the harvests?

1.3. Purpose and Benefit

To know the advantage of weaver ants in agriculture.

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

To find out what food that weaver ants prefer to.

To know the way how weaver ants life.

To socialize that using weaver ant to exterminate pest is better than

pesticide.

1.4. Research Method

Studying Literature
Find out some data about weaver ants both from books and internet.
The data is containing all about weaver ants such as the anatomy, the
habitat, etc.

Simple Experiment
Do a simple experiment about the food of weaver ants.

Observation
Observe the habit and the habitat of weaver ants.

1.5. Paper Organization

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
1.2. Problem Statement
1.3. Purpose and Benefit
1.4. Research Method
1.5. Layout

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1. Weaver Ant
2.2. Taxonomy
2.3. Colony Ontogeny and Social Organization

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

2.4. Nest Building Behavior

CHAPTER III EXPERIMENT

3.1. Equipment and Materials
3.2. Steps

CHAPTER IV ANALYTICAL DATA

4.1. The 1st Board Observation
4.2. The 2nd Board Observation
4.3. The 3rd Board Observation
4.4. The 4th Board Observation

CHAPTER V DISSCUSSION
5.1. The Differences between Weaver Ants and other Ants
5.2. Weaver Ants Food
5.3. The Advantage of Weaver Ants
5.4. Maintaining Weaver Ants in Garden
5.5. Danger Spraying Chemicals in The Garden

CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION
6.1.

Conclusion

6.2.

Suggestions

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Weaver Ant
Weaver ants (genus Oecophylla) are

Oecophylla

unsocial insects of family Formicidae. Weaver

ants are obligate arboreal and are known for
their unique nest building behavior where
workers construct nests by weaving together
leaves using larval silk.
Weaver ant (Oecophylla
smaragdina) major worker.
Scientific Classification

Colonies can be

extremely large consisting of more than a

hundred nests spanning numerous trees and
contain more than half a million workers. Like

Kingdom

Animalia

many other ant species, weaver ants prey on

Phylum

Arthropoda

small insects and supplement their diet with

Class

Insecta

carbohydrate-rich honeydew excreted by small

Order

Hymenoptera

insects (Hemiptera).

Family

Formicidae

Subfamily

Formicinae

Tribe

Oechophyllini

bimodal size distribution, with almost no

Genus

Oecophylla

overlap between the size of the minor and

Oecophylla workers exhibit a clear

major

workers.

The

major

workers

are

approximately eight to ten millimeters in length and the minors approximately

half the length of the majors. There is a division of labor associated with the size
difference between workers. Major workers forage, defend, maintain and expand
the colony whereas minor workers tend to stay within the nests where they care
for the brood and 'milk' scale insects in or close to the nests.
Oecophylla weaver ants vary in color from reddish to yellowish brown
dependent on the species. Oecophylla smaragdina found in Australia often have

Hlldobber,B.&Wilson.1990.TheAnts.Cambridge,Massachusetts:HarvardUniversityPress.

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

bright green gagsters. These ants are highly territorial and workers aggressively
defend their territories against intruders. Because of their aggressive behavior,
weaver ants are sometime used by indigenous farmers, particularly in Southeast
Asia, as natural bio control agents against agricultural pests. Although Oecophylla
weaver ants lack a functional sting they can inflict painful bites and often spray
formic acid2 directly at the bite wound resulting in intense discomfort.

2.2. Taxonomy
The weaver ants belong to the ant
genus Oecophylla which contains two
closely related living species: O. longinoda
found in Sub-Saharan Africa and O.
Picture 1 : Liquid food exchange in O.
smaragdina.

smaragdina found in

southern India,

Southeast Asia, and Australia. 3 They are

provisionally placed in a tribe of their own, Oecophyllini. The weaver ant genus
Oecophylla is relatively old, and 15 fossil species have been found from the
Eocene to Miocene deposits. 4 Polyrhachis and Dendromyrmex are two other
genera of weaving ants that also use larval silk in nest construction, but the
construction and architecture of their nests are simpler than those of Oecophylla.
1

In Australia, Oecophylla smaragdina is found in the tropical coastal areas as far

south as Rockhampton and across the coastal tropics of the Northern Territory
down to Broome in West Australia.
The common features of the genus include an elongated first funicular
segment, presence of prop deal lobes, helcium at midheight of abdominal segment

J.W.S.Bradshaw,R.Baker,P.E.Howse(1979)Chemicalcompositionofthepoisonapparatus
secretionsoftheAfricanweaverant,Oecophyllalonginoda,andtheirroleinbehaviour
PhysiologicalEntomology.
3
TreeofLifeWebProject.2004.Oecophylla.(http://tolweb.org/Oecophylla/22908)
4
Azuma,N.,Kikuchi,T.,Ogata,K.&Higashi,S.2002.Molecularphylogenyamonglocal
populationsofweaverantOecophyllasmaragdina.

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

3 and gagster capable of reflection over the mesosoma. Males have vestigial
pretarsal claws.

2.3. Colony Ontogeny and Social Organization

Weaver ant colonies are founded by one or
more mated females (queens). 5 A queen lays her
first clutch of eggs on a leaf and protects and feeds
the larvae until they develop into mature workers.
The workers then construct leaf nests and help rear
new brood laid by the queen. As the number of

Picture 2 : A deal ate queen of O.

smaragdina having shed her wings
after a mating flight

workers increases, more nests are constructed and colony productivity and growth
increase significantly. Workers perform tasks that are essential to colony survival,
including foraging, nest construction, and colony defense. Because the tasks
performed by workers are spatially and temporarily isolated, the integration and
coordination of worker activities are important in colony organization.
The emergence of an organized, complex social colony results from
nonrandom

repeated

interactions

between

individuals that follow simple behavioral rules.

6

The exchange of information and modulation of

worker behavior that occur during worker-worker

Picture 3 : O. smaragdina major
workers inspecting and cleaning
(all grooming) another worker on
its return to the nest, Thailand

interactions are facilitated by the use of chemical

and tactile communication signals. These signals
are used primarily in the contexts of foraging and

colony defense. Successful foragers lay down pheromone trails that help recruit
other workers to new food sources. Pheromone trails are also used by patrollers to

RKPeng,KChristian,KGibb(1998)Howmanyqueensarethereinmaturecoloniesofthegreen
ant,Oecophyllasmaragdina(Fabricius)?AustralianJournalofEntomology.
6
Anderson,C.&McShea,D.W.2001.Individualversussocialcomplexity,withparticular
referencetoantcolonies.

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

recruit workers against territorial intruders. Along with chemical signals, workers
also use tactile communication signals such as attention and body shaking to
stimulate activity in signal recipients. Multimodal communication in Oecophylla
weaver ants importantly contribute to colony self-organization.[14][15] Like many
other ant species, Oecophylla workers exhibit social carrying behavior as part of
the recruitment process, in which one worker will carry another worker in its
mandibles and transport it to a location requiring attention.

2.4.

Nest Building Behavior

Oecophylla weaver ants are known for their

remarkable cooperative behavior used in nest
construction. Possibly the first description of weaver
ant's nest building behavior was made by the
Picture 4 : Nest construction by O.
smaragdina major workers,
Thailand

English naturalist Joseph Banks, who took part in

Captain James Cook's voyage to Australia in 1768.
An excerpt from Joseph Banks' Journal (cited in

Hlldobler and Wilson 1990) is included below:

The ants...one green as a leaf, and living upon trees, where it built a nest,
in size between that of a man's head and his fist, by bending the leaves together,
and gluing them with whitish paperish substances which held them firmly
together. In doing this their management was most curious: they bend down four
leaves broader than a man's hand, and place them in such a direction as they
choose. This requires a much larger force than these animals seem capable of;
many thousands indeed are employed in the joint work. I have seen as many as
could stand by one another, holding down such a leaf, each drawing down with all
his might, while others within were employed to fasten the glue. How they had
bent it down I had not the opportunity of seeing, but it was held down by main
strength, I easily proved by disturbing a part of them, on which the leaf bursting

10

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

from the rest, returned to its natural situation, and I had an opportunity of trying
with my finger the strength of these little animals must have used to get it down.1
The weaver ant's ability to build capacious nests from living leaves has
undeniably contributed to their ecological success. The first phase in nest
construction involves workers surveying potential nesting leaves by pulling on the
edges with their mandibles. When a few ants have successfully bent a leaf onto
itself or drawn its edge toward another, other workers nearby join the effort. The
probability of a worker joining the concerted
effort is dependent on the size of the group,
with workers showing a higher probability of
joining when group size is large. 7When the
span between two leaves is beyond the reach
of a single ant, workers form chains with their
bodies by grasping one another's petiole
(waist). Multiple intricate chains working in
unison are often used to ratchet together large
leaves during nest construction. Once the
edges of the leaves are drawn together, other
workers retrieve larvae from existing nests
using their mandibles. These workers hold and

Picture 5 : Weaver ants collaborating to

pull nest leaves together.

manipulate the larvae in such a way that causes them to excrete silk. They can
only produce so much silk, so the larva will have to pupate without a cocoon. The
workers then maneuver between the leaves in a highly coordinated fashion to bind
them together.1 Weaver ant's nests are usually elliptical in shape and range in size
from a single small leaf folded and bound onto itself to large nests consisting of
many leaves and measure over half a meter in length. The time required to
construct a nest varies depending on leaf type and eventual size, but often a large
nest can be built in significantly less than 24 hours. Although weaver ant's nests

Deneubourg,J.L.,Lioni,A.&Detrain,C.2002.Dynamicsofaggregationandemergenceof
cooperation.BiologicalBulletin.

11

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

are strong and impermeable to water, new nests are continually being built by
workers in large colonies to replace old dying nests and those damaged by storms.

12

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

CHAPTER V
DISSCUSSION
5.1. The Differences of Weaver Ants and other Ants
Weaver ant is one type of natural enemies. These ants have a distinctive
way of life that is knit leaves on the trees to make nest. Weaver ants like the fresh
air that can not be found in the house. It also cause why they do not make nests in
the ground but on the tree. In addition to the typical behavior in a nest, the weaver
ants body is larger and the behavior is more aggressive than the other ants.

5.2. Weaver Ants Food

Ant food is very diverse, but can be classified into two major groups,
namely proteins and sugars. Unlike other ants, weaver ants prefer protein than
sugar. Protein can be found in meat, fish, chicken, mice and insects. Weaver ants
actively search for food and took it to the nest for all members of the nest. They
prey various types of pests, such as moths that are active at night and that hiding
under the leaves during the day.
In addition to the protein needs, weaver ants require additional food the
form of sugar. To get the sugar, weaver ants prefer find reserves of sugar such as
honey dew (issued by the liquid suction insect plants) or nectar. Honey dew
required as additional energy in the early period of development nest. So, when
building a nest, weaver ants find young leaves are occupied by honey dew
producing insects and put it into the nest. You will find different types of honey
dew-producing insects such as aphids, flea shield and white lice near or in the
weaver ant nests.
Weaver ants were require sugar from insects producing honey dew but if
the amount of sugar produced by these insects is greater of the needs of the
colony, then ants will kill insect.

13

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

5.3. The Advantage of Weaver Ants

5.3.1. Protecting from Pest
If

observed

carefully, weaver ants can

interfere, impede or prey
on a variety of pests such
as green beetle, leaveseating

caterpillars,

fruits-eating

and

insects.

Weaver ants population rate may reduce mite pest problems, and leaves snorer
Greening disease in citrus orchard. Weaver ants are also known protect
Eucalyptus and other timber trees. These ants can control most of the pests on
citrus and nut corps; protect chocolate and coconut plants from beetle attack, thus
increase the quality and quantity of the harvest. Weaver ants can also prevent rat
attack.

5.3.2. Creating an Environment that Healthier

By utilizing weaver ants maximally, you can reduce the use of chemicals
that are sources of air pollution, soil and water. Your garden will become more
naturally, the birds and the bees will visit your garden and provide additional
benefits, including as predators and parasitoids that can help protect the garden.

5.3.3. Save Money

Based

on

the

results

of

studies

conducted in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam,

farmers who maintain weaver ants spend only
25 - 50% of the amount of money spent to

14

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

purchase materials chemical when compared with that does not keep the ants, so
that the average yield net income fixed higher. Weaver ants are not only beneficial
to the fruit plants. In Australia, the quality and nut crops are higher in plants that
weaver ants inhabited and without the use of chemicals when compared with the
garden that uses chemicals to the pest control.

5.3.4. Generate Organic Fruit

Weaver ants benefits to plant that
can improve the quality of fruit. Produced
fruit becomes more attractive and fresher.
People's views on organic fruit have
changed so that the organic fruit market
prices get higher. Although you do not have
enough facilities and places, you can begin
to improve your skills in growing the fruit -

Picture 6 : Flawless fruits because of weaver

ants help.

organic fruits of high quality. In the future there will be labeling mechanism and
marketing structures recognized for organic fruit. Currently you can explore how
the local market's reaction to organic fruit. Make tablet reads: "This beautiful fruit
produced with the help of weaver ants ". The people will see clearly that the fruit
produced from trees that occupied weaver ants have the higher quality; the fruit is
more shiny and fresher.

5.4. Maintaining Weaver Ants in Garden

5.4.1. Preparing for a New Orchard
Weaver ants like places that are not disturbed and provide many leaves for
nesting. If you change the rice field or vegetable garden into an orchard there are
two scenarios that can be taken, namely:

15

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

If you have a tree that has a bit older, do not

harvested because the trees can be used as shelter and

nesting place for the new colony of ants.

If you do not have trees older, plant trees or

bushes around your orchard as soon as possible.

Remember that the types of plants such as banana,
papaya and sapodilla less suitable for the formation of
a new colony of ants. Maybe you can plant other
Picture 7 : The large tress can
provide a place for weaver
ants to form new colony.

species in accordance your own experience.

For additional information, to attract to weaver ant nest
in your garden, you should plant some plants are honey

dew-producing preferred by insects around your garden.

5.4.2. Controlling Other Ants

Ants have several species. One species, with the other species is enemies,
even the same species whether different colonies can attack each other. For that,
to eradicate or reduce the population of other species of ants before placing
weaver ants is needed.
The main competitor of weaver ant is black ant (Dolichoderus thoracicus)
that known very well to protect the brown fruits. But the farmers argue that the
black ants are considered as pests on citrus crops because it can reduce the quality
of fruit.
Based on the experience of maintenance of weaver ants in District Bandar,
Simalungun District, North Sumatra, weaver ant colony in the chocolate garden
can be driven by the black ant colony (Dolichoderus thoracic) if the weaver ant
populations is much less.

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

Box1.Howtocontroltheblackant
Based on his experience, Mr. Nguyen Van Chung of District
Giong Trom, Ben Tre Province, Vietnam, has been able to
controlpopulationofblackants.Hedevelopedtwodifferent
strategiesdependingontheseason.Thisstrategyisbasedon
behavioralstudiesblackants.

If the black ants come to the garden in large

quantities in dry season, how to control it is to give
erect rotten fish bait that distributed in the area of
0.5 m2 in the garden. Black ants will flock to these
fish,andthenburnedthem.

Inrainyseason,blackantsmakingnestsinthedry.By
hangingabunchofleavesorgrassontree,theblack
ants come swarming. Move the leaves and burned
them.

5.4.3.

How to Form a New Colony

When the new colonies can be formed?

Basically you can take the nest at any time, but the best time is during the
rainy season. Why? As we have seen at the beginning, the rainy season is the time
to the ant queen to put egg. Without a queen ant, new colonies can not be formed.
More and more nests are placed the more chance of success of new colony
formation. Placed nest must come from the same colony; it was sometimes the
ants colony can still attack each other. However, the best is to take some of the
nest from a tree or of some trees in places that are not disturbed.
How to choose weaver ant to form a new colony?

17

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

Surely you do not want a lot of nests that contain only little ants. To get
the best nest, then choose nest in average until large size remaining fresh leaves.
When the leaves had aged and become dry, ants will leave the nest. Way to know
whether nest was still occupied by many ants or not is shaking nest with pieces of
wood. To prevent you from the crowd of ants, then let some time until the ants
entered the nest and then take the nest and move.
What to do if weaver ants natural nest is
not found?
The reduced presence of native vegetation
due to increased pressure cultivation can cause
difficulty in locating the weaver ants natural nest.
Occasionally some farmers who have nest did not
want to share with other farmers because they are
worried lack of ants. If you find a situation like
that, how do you get out of your nest? Quite
simply, if your neighbor has a colony that has been well established, ask for his
permission to make a way (bridge) in the form of a rope from trees to your
garden. At the beginning of bridge production, place the food at the end of your
garden to attract ant attention. With the bridge, the ants can easily walk to your
trees and nesting. Ants will have a wider roaming area for obtain food and will
increase the number of individuals in their colony. Both you and your neighbors
will get the benefits.
How do I put the new nest of weaver ants?
You can use several ways that you have learned about the life and
behavior of ants. Anytime you can place new nest, either in a new garden or in old
garden, the important thing is to place these nests on tree that has the young
leaves. If possible, you can also put the nest in tall trees that leafed flexible.

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

Box2.Placinganewweaverant
Ifthereareblackantsonthetreethatwewillplaceweaverant,based
ontheexperienceofMr.Chung,astrategyisasfollows:
a) Tether rope from a tree inhabited by the weaver ant to places
that contain food such as shrimp to lure weaver ants soldiers
out.
b) Afterthebaitisfilledwithweaverantssoldiers,entertheminto
thebagandmoveittowhereyouwanttobuildanewcolony.
c) Find the places occupied black ants. By climbing to a higher
place,releaseweaverantsoldierswereinthisplace.
This approach is guaranteed more successful even if you release the
weaverantssoldiersinelsewhereinthetree.Iftheblackantsarelost,
you can place the weaver ants nest. The best time to start putting
weaver ants is in the rainy season because the ants are very active so
canbuildanewnestinashorttime,sometimeslessthan1hour.They
wantedtoquicklyprotectthemselvesfromexposurerain.

Which part of tree that the nests should be place in? Is at the top, in the
middle or bottom of the tree? In the dry season, the ants do not like to stay on top
tree because there is too hot; such as nest should be placed in the center of the
tree. This is also prevailing at the time of heavy rain.

5.4.4. Maintaining a New Nest of Weaver Ant

After you place a nest in new place and they feel fit, then the ants will be
soon making a new nest. You can imagine how your feelings when going to build
a new house, with a sudden there is someone who has prepared the material and
provide food. Surely you will be pleased. And ants do. With put food on the new
inhabited tree during the first week, they will feel like living in the tree.

19

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

But food is not the only needs of

weaver ant. If you do not keep them from
environmental disturbances such activities
weeding, spraying, pruning or regardless of
its form, they will decide to move to a place
other that more secure for them.

Picture 8 : Provide food, e.g. Chicken, may

do so new colony remains in place desire.

5.4.5. Spreading Weaver Ants in Our Garden

Ants prefer to keep feet dry, therefore in dry
season, you will see the ants walking on the surface
ground without a problem but when in rainy season,
they will walked through the branches. In the trees
are still young and its branches are still have not
Picture 9 : bamboo is used to
make a way to weaver ant to
move.

touched each other, you can put the bridge in the

form bamboo or nylon rope from one tree to another
tree. When tree age and the canopy are dense

enough, the ants can move freely from one tree to another tree. Keep in mind,
there is one condition where you are better to avoid creating bridges between
trees, is when there are two colonies of ants in a garden. You have to maintain
both the colony remain separate, to avoid clashes.

5.4.6. Preventing Ants Hostility from Different Colonies

If you want to put a nest of ants in the new place, the most important thing
to remember is to ensure that each individual of ants must come from a single
colony. The easiest way to distinguish between the two colonies are find the space
between the two nests, if the ants from different colonies meet they will attack
each other. The battle of the two colonies of ants that occur is usually marked by
the number of dead ants that had fallen to the ground and some twigs die because

20

The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

of the formic acid released by the ants when fight. In a garden can be found in
more than one colony. To avoid a battle between the weaver ant colonies should
be maintained to keep them separate. An effort that can be done to separate their
colony is to prune the tree branches that intersect. There were farmers who had
sprinkle water on the ants that are hostile to cool the atmosphere.

5.4.7. Providing Food When Dry Season

Should we provide food for our weaver ants? If food has been provided,
why they should effort hard to find their prey? By providing food for weaver ants,
the goal of maintaining ants is not achieved precisely. The initial purpose of ants
maintenance is to keep garden, but due to maintenance errors eventually they
become lazy. To avoid errors in maintenance is needed careful observation to
determine when the appropriate in providing food to them. In dry season, food
becomes scarce; it is time to provide food. If food is not given, the ants will move
or population will be decreased. Food can be given two or three times a year, do
not too often. Food can be provided in the form of a piece of chicken intestine or
small fish. To keep the ants remain scattered in the garden, food must be placed in
several places.

5.5. Danger Spraying Chemicals Materials in the Garden

There are several things that must be considered when going to do spray
chemicals in the garden. First, we already know that ants do not like to be
disturbed. So whatever you done you should consider whether it is can affect the
activity of ants. When you open new garden and need to put the nests of ants, you
should avoid spraying pesticides, growth regulating substances, even water, at
least one month after the placement of new nest. If not, they will soon move and
eventually your business in build ant colony is vain.

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

Second, weaver ants are not only friends with the farmers. In garden of his ant
colony has been well established, spraying of pesticides is not so much influence
because their population would soon return, but this does not apply to other useful
organisms. Thus the pesticide should only be used in an emergency situation so,
with consideration principles of IPM (Integrated Pest Management), and even the
pesticide must be selected. Pesticide from organophosphate active should be
avoided! Avoiding pesticides is not only beneficial natural enemies, but also
better for health you.
Third, the nest is a home for ants to care for her child. Therefore, avoid
spraying the trees that there is an ant nest on it.

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSION
1.1. Conclusion
Weaver ants commonly found nested in a variety of trees, such as fruit
trees, fruit. The presence of weaver ants in the trees often regarded as a nuisance
especially when going to harvesting, because the bite is ill. Behind it all, weaver
ants have the advantage for human especially in agriculture. Weaver ants can
protect garden from pests and disease. Ants preyed either a destructive pest of
directly or that transmit diseases in plants. Weaver ants can prey on a variety of
pests such as green beetle, a leaves-eating caterpillar, fruit-eating caterpillar and
lice-alliance in chocolate, nuts, orange. Even weaver ants can mouse away.
If we have an enemy natural in the garden, then use pesticides can we
reduce even avoid. By avoiding the use of pesticides means that we have made
cost savings farming and also kept environmental health.

1.2. Suggestion
From this paper, the author has some suggestions:
1. People should not consider weaver ant as dangerous and disturbing
because its bite and must be annihilate. Actually weaver ant has a very
great advantage in agriculture such as list above.
2. The government especially Agriculture Department can socialize the use
of weaver ants as replacement of pesticide. Because the use of weaver ant
is cheaper and make our environment healthier.

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati

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Website :
Semut. (http://id.wikipedia.org) [November, 8th 2009 3:15 PM]
Semut

Rangrang

Si

Pedas

Gigitannya.

(http://meylafarid.multiply.com)

[November 9th, 2009 2:27 PM]

Weaver Ant Oecophylla Smaragdina Kerennga, Green Ant, and Red Ant.
(http://www.naturia.per.sg) [November 11th, 2009 3:32 PM]

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The Advantage of Weaver Ants in Agriculture by Yulia Rahmawati