scale insects and leafhoppers from which they collect honeydew. By protecting these insects from predators they increase their population and increase the damage they cause to trees. As food, feed and medicine Weaver ants are one of the most valued types of edible insects consumed by humans (human entomophagy). In addition to being used as a biological control agent to increase plant production, weaver ants can be utilized directly as a protein and food source since the ants (especially the ant larvae) are edible for humans and high in protein and fatty acids. In some countries the weaver ant is a highly prized delicacy harvested in vast amounts and in this way contribute to local socio-economics. In Northeastern Thailand the price of weaver ant larvae is twice the price of good-quality beef and in a single Thai province ant larvae worth US$620,000 are harvested every year. It has furthermore been shown that the harvest of weaver ants can be maintained while at the same time using the ants for biocontrol of pest insects in tropical plantations, since the queen larvae and pupae that are the primary target of harvest, are not vital for colony survival. The larvae of weaver ants are also collected commercially as an expensive feed for insect-eating birds in Indonesia. In India and China, and the worker ants are used in traditional medicine. See also Polyrhachis, other ants that weave nests (though less complex) Where the Green Ants Dream, a 1984 film directed by Werner Herzog Myrmarachne plataleoides, a spider that mimics the weaver ant Nanfang Caomu Zhuang, earliest Chinese record of O. smaragdina "citrus ants" protecting orange crops References External links Weaver Ants – National Geographic, May 2011 AntWeb – Ants of the world Tree Of Life – Oecophylla Green tree ants Ants as friends. Insect Pest Management on Tree Crops with Weaver Ants by Paul Van Mele and Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc Formicinae