FAUNA AND FLORA OF MANGROVE SWAMPS
183
on the coccids and other insects which may infest the trees. Vanderplank and Way both suggest that this activity of the ants outweighs any
damage done by the bugs from which they obtain the honeydew.
I n orchards and in the maritime scrub these tailor ants are liable
to be overcome by more pugnacious ants of the genera Pheidole,
FIG. 58. Oecophylla smaragdina nest on a bush of Ceriops tagal a t Inhaca, July 1964.
Anoplolepis and occasionally Crematogaster, but these ants do not
occur in the mangal and so the tailor ants would appear t o be more
secure from their enemies here.
I n Malaya where these pugnacious ants appear to be less prominent
Oecophylla may reach high altitudes inland in the rain forest, and is
often a pest in urban and other gardens. Within the mangal they tend
to be most commonly found on bushes or trees of Ceriops, Bruguiera,
Sonneratia caseolaris and Xylocarpus than on other kinds of tree. On
A.M.B.-6
7
183
on the coccids and other insects which may infest the trees. Vanderplank and Way both suggest that this activity of the ants outweighs any
damage done by the bugs from which they obtain the honeydew.
I n orchards and in the maritime scrub these tailor ants are liable
to be overcome by more pugnacious ants of the genera Pheidole,
FIG. 58. Oecophylla smaragdina nest on a bush of Ceriops tagal a t Inhaca, July 1964.
Anoplolepis and occasionally Crematogaster, but these ants do not
occur in the mangal and so the tailor ants would appear t o be more
secure from their enemies here.
I n Malaya where these pugnacious ants appear to be less prominent
Oecophylla may reach high altitudes inland in the rain forest, and is
often a pest in urban and other gardens. Within the mangal they tend
to be most commonly found on bushes or trees of Ceriops, Bruguiera,
Sonneratia caseolaris and Xylocarpus than on other kinds of tree. On
A.M.B.-6
7