Golden Ant

Golden Ant ( Polyrhachis illaudata) is an arboreal ant that live in the canopies of sub-tropical rain forests in Western Ghats, India. They construct nests by binding leaves with the silk produced from their own larvae. However this species does not belong to genuine weaver ants like Oecophyll.

Fulgoromorpha Nymph on left &  Golden Ant on right (Polyrhachis illaudata)

The shining golden colour on the body is owing to the numerous tightly packed golden coloured tiny hairs all over the body parts including the legs.

I came across another sp with similar looks , at first I misjudged it as Golden ant & then I was corrected by Shyamal that it was Camponotus sericeus commonly called as Golden Backed ant .

Golden Backed Ant (Camponotus sericeus)

If observed carefully one can find the difference, The golden shiny colour is limited to abdomen & rest part of  the body is black in colour.

Colony of Golden Backed Ants (Camponotus sericeus)

This Camponotus is relatively peaceful & widely spread in tropical areas of Asia. Their soil nests can be large and populous.

On mountains they build chimney like nests to prevent water from rushing in. On flat lands the nest openings are on level with ground & in evergreen forest they nest in soil under leaf litter.

“A Group of Ants is called Army or Colony 😉  ”

My earlier blog on spider mimicking Golden backed ant here