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Do you want some fun facts about ants? Learn about ants and the various grains, vegetables, meats, and other food they eat. Follow closely.
Ants appear tiny. Some can be so small that one begins to imagine and ask important questions like, what do ants eat? Or what do ants eat and drink? It is possible to have seen ants carry crumbs of food. Also, there is a higher chance that if one leaves jelly sandwiches out, hungry ants will locate it and hastily consume it or move it away.
The Diverse Diets of Ants
Just like human beings, ants have an amazingly diverse diet. The incredible part of ants begins with how sophisticated they are. They are social animals and always have several ingenious ways to find, harvest, distribute, and store their food.
For fact’s sake, there are about 12,000 varieties of ants. They are generally classified as omnivores. Omnivores are organisms (plants and animals) that can feed on both plants and animals as food. Herbivores are peculiar to plant only while carnivores feed on animals only.
As seen in human beings, ants also have a preference for food. For example, fire ants are one of the most harmful and persistent of all ants. That said, fire ants do not have well-specialized mouthparts to be eaters. This shows that the development of their mouth part is a result of their feeding habits. This is a major way to identify ants.
What do Ants Eat?
There are different foods ants eat.
In some cases, they drink too. This section answers the question of what do ants eat and drink?
Sweet Liquids and Foods
Human beings like sweet liquids and foods because it tastes well to them. Ants also love sweet food items. Oftentimes, ants stick to the stem of plants or the flower to feed on its sugary nectar or any sweet liquid from the plant.
In addition, ants are seen on ripe and sweet fruits like mangoes, oranges, cashew, apple, and many other sweet fruits. However, their activities lead to the quick destruction of the fruits and make the fruits unmarketable anymore.
Aphids, another type of ant produce honeydew liquid. The honeydew liquid is sweet, and other insects love to feed on the liquid.
Now to homemade foods, a sweeter piece of food will attract more ants within a short time frame compared to other food types. A heap of candy or cup with juice will attract more ants too because of its sweetness and attractive smell.
In summary, ants also like sugary liquids and foods.
Seeds and Plants
Ants are easily found on farmlands because ants love to eat vegetables and other plant materials. Some ants feed on leaves and grasses, while many feeds on grains and seeds. Their mouth structure is a determiner of what type of seeds and plants they consume.
It is a well-known fact that ants like to eat plants from gardens and farmlands. Nevertheless, some ants make their food. Quite surprising, right? Some species of ants called leaf-cutters do not only cut leaf to eat. They also grow fungus with some of the chewed leaves. Eventually, they can feed on the fungus as food.
Sometimes, the intention is to build a nest from these plant materials they gather. However, the nest can grow into what they can eat too.
Fellow Insects and Animals
Some ants that like to consume meat can eat fellow ants or other small animals. Some ants invade the territory of another type of ants to feed on their young ones or eggs. This routine is a common practice in army ants.
As a matter of fact, a queen can eat any of her young ones or egg if there is no other option for food.
Other Materials
Other materials will include debris or garbage that is on the ground. Ants will go out to eat shreds of debris whenever they are disturbed in their nest by pests or people.
In addition, they have scavenging abilities like vultures and hyenas. Ants eat up the animal and even human carcasses as they clean the environment. This process has helped reduce the number of accumulated matters and debris in different parts of the world.
Conclusion
What do ants eat is always a valid question between the young and old. However, sugary foods and drinks, seeds and plants, fellow insects and animals, and other materials will always be the valid answers to the question.
Read also our guide on Explaining Tiny Ants in the Kitchen.
