Reading 4 Animal Architects Different animals build their dw…
Reading 4 Animal Architects Different animals build their dwellings in a variety of ways. Some stack their homes up with sticks, others dig tunnels. Weaver ants glue. No, it’s not the kind of glue people use for craft projects. It’s a very unique kind of glue. Weaver ants work together. They build a group of nests for all the ants in the colony. The ants use their natural instincts. They also learn what to do from one another. No ant is too small to help. Worker ants search for leaves that are soft and easy to bend. Forming a line, each ant holds one edge of a leaf in its jaws and the opposite edge in its back feet. The workers form chains with their bodies. Holding on to each other’s waists, they pull the edges of the leaf together. Another group of ants then bring larvae from the old nest. Ant larvae are the young, wormlike form of the ants. These workers carry the larvae to the leaves. Each worker holds a single larva in its jaws. Then it uses its antennae to gently tap the larva on the head. This makes the larva ooze a thin strand of silk. This is the glue! Using the silk from the larvae, the workers glue the leaves together. Building a nest in the trees can take more than a week. That nest can be as big as a basketball. The weaver ants’ leaf nest is a great example of the amazing homes that animals make. Weaver ants make their homes with the resources they find around them. They make their homes so they can survive. They work well together. They are like animal architects. That’s why humans sometimes look to animals to become better builders themselves.
Read Details