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| Type: |
Manual or guideline |
| Language |
English |
| Year of publication: |
2007 |
| Citation: |
Van Mele, P. and N.T.T. Cuc, 2007. Ants as Friends: Improving your Tree Crops with Weaver Ants. Second Edition. Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Cotonou, Benin, and CABI, Egham, UK. 72 pp. |
| Authors: |
Paul Van Mele and Nguyen Thi Thu Cuc |
| Target countries: |
Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, China, Mainland, Congo, Dem Republic of, Côte d'Ivoire, Fiji Islands, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Philippines, Rwanda, Samoa, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Zambia |
| Download: |
 203kb |
| Summary |
This manual offers you a highly exciting discovery voyage about the life of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina), how you can make best use of them to protect your fruit and other tree crops and hence how to save money. Because the focus is on practical aspects based on improved insights of underlying ecological principles, the book will appeal in particular to farmers, university students, NGO workers, extension staff and all those engaged in communicating agricultural sciences to farmers. All the topics covered are based on a huge amount of scientific knowledge and farmers' expertise. Mind you, depending on the crop and climate here you live, slight differences may occur, so it is important to observe for yourself and learn from the local experts such as the farmers.
In the first part you will get an introduction to the role and diversity of beneficial organisms. The second part deals with the life and behaviour of weaver ants. You will learn among other things how the ants grow up from being a larva to a strong worker, how they live in a society where males and females each perform their specific tasks, and how ants for instance react to different factors. Once you get to grips with this it will be much easier to understand how to best manage the ants throughout the year, as described in part three. In the final part we describe how the weaver ant contributes to improving the life of us all.
Now aren't you getting curious to read the rest of this book? Well, let me tell you one more thing. Did you know that the weaver ant uses a kind of a telephone system to inform the others that an enemy has entered their territory? Or that a delicious meal has been found? Now you can discover many things in this book, but you must know that what is really exciting is that most of it happens in your garden or orchard and that you do not need to buy a ticket to go and watch. Have fun!
The book is available in English, Bahasa Indonesia and Vietnamese. For a full version of the book you can contact Paul Van Mele (p.vanmele@cgiar.org). Please indicate what language you wish to receive.
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| 1.1 Socio- economic Sector (OECD) |
311 Agriculture
410 Environmental protection
110 Education
150 Government and civil society
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| 1.4 Target group(s) |
1. Local communities
4. Research community
2. SMEs/Private sector
5. Decision makers/Policymakers
3. Intermediary organisations
6. General public/Opinion makers
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| 2.1 Production System |
2. Mixed cropping system
4. Tree- Crop system (agro-forestry)
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| 2.2 Production Chain |
3. Pest & Disease Control
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| 2.3 Commodity group |
Food crops
Forest Products
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| 2.4 Food Crops |
Coconut (Cocos)
Mango (Mangifera Indica)
Citrus (Citrus)
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| 2.5a Agro-Ecology: Thermal zone |
1: Tropical
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| 2.5b Agro-ecology: Altitude zone |
Lowlands
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| 2.5c Agro-Ecology: Moisture zone |
3. Humid
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| 3.1 Natural Resource Mgmt. |
Conservation & Biodiversity
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| 3.2 Pollution-Environmental Protection |
4. Human health
6. Pesticides & toxics
3. Ecosystems
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| FFS Topics |
Agriculture
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