Sociable weaver nest colonies are a prominent feature of the Tswalu landscape. They may house hundreds of individual weavers, often living in small family groups, but collectively building and maintaining the structure. A leopard will typically use a tree like this as a territorial scent marking site or a lookout point. These nest colonies also provide shelter for many Kalahari mammals, birds and reptiles. Anthony Lowney, who conducted his PhD thesis on this topic, found that these colonies are

Each weaver ant can pull on a leaf much harder when in a group than when it works alone. The ants’ sticky feet and coordinated legwork, researchers believe, improve the ants’ collective efficiency—a finding that may provide insights into how to build and coordinate swarms of robots that work together. Learn more: https://scim.ag/3UXuhkT | Science