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โครงการรวบรวมและจัดทําวารสารอิเล็กทรอนิกส์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์
์
Thai J. For. 35 (1) : 1-10 (2016) วารสารวนศาสตร 35 (1) : 1-10 (2559)

นิพนธ์ต้นฉบับ

ต�ำแหน่งรังรำชินีมดแดงในประเทศไทย

Queen Nest Location of the weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, in Thailand

รัตนวดี ชำรีวำร Ratanawadee Chareewarn
เดชำ วิวัฒน์วิทยำ Decha Wiwatwittaya *
*
คณะวนศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์ จตุจักร กรุงเทพฯ 10900
Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Chatuchak, Bangkok, 10900 Thailand
* Corresponding Author, E-mai: ffordew@ku.ac.th

รับต้นฉบับ 15 พฤษภาคม 2558 รับลงพิมพ์ 6 กรกฎาคม 2558

ABSTRACT

A study on the queen nest location of weaver ant (Oecophylla smaragdina; Family:
Formicidae) was carried out during 2013-2014 in Thailand. This study aims in attempt to record
the, size, structure, location, and facing direction of queen nest. The queen nest was recognized
by the presence of a large number of workers guarded and protected by in comparison with non

– queen nest. The total number of nests, nest size, nest structure, including height of tree, height
and width of canopy, as well as the abundance of workers and worker behavior were all recorded.
It has been observed that there was a single queen in a nest per colony. The queen nests
were frequently found in taller trees. It was found that queen lives in a small nest. The nest opening
was larger in queen nests than in non-queen nests. The majority of the queen nests were found
in the middle of canopy. There were significant correlations between location of queen nest with

respect to the height and width of canopy (r = 0.648; P <0.01; r = 0.527; P <0.05). Most of the
queen nests were facing the south direction, whereas the opening of the nest faced southwest
direction. There were a large number of workers in queen tree in comparison with non – queen tree.
All workers were quickly recruited and showed aggressive behavior if the colony was disturbed.
The queen was closely guarded and protected by the workers when she was out of her nest.

This study represents new findings related to the biology of weaver ants. And the outcome
is significant in the sense that it will lead to solve the problem of ant farming in Thailand and the
results presented here can be applied to culture the weaver ants in non-weaver ant areas.

Keywords: Weaver ant, Weaver ant Queen, Queen nest position, Thailand