What Ants Need to Eat

There are more than 12,000 different ant species worldwide. As can be expected, not all of these ants eat the same things. Some ant species forage for protein in the form of dead bugs while others look for fruits and vegetables. Because of their affinity for sugary substances, many ants enjoy sweets such as honeydew.

  1. Insects and Discarded Animals

    • Many ant species eat a wide variety of small insects. Some of these insects include flies, cockroaches, beetles, crickets, spiders, bees or flies. The amount of food a colony of ants can find usually depends on the size of the colony. Large colonies of southern wood ants have been found to bring in up to 100,000 insects a day. In addition to eating small insects, ants also will feed on the larger corpses of dead animals. Known as carrion scavengers, ants will oftentimes eat dead and putrefying flesh.

    Other Ants and Eggs

    • Some ant species eat their own dead as well as the eggs of the colony queen. These eggs are usually trophic, which are laid for nutrition and not reproduction.

    Honeydew from Aphids

    • The red ant and the black garden ant collect and safeguard sap-sucking aphids to extract sweet honeydew from them. Much like humans who keep cows for dairy purposes, ants will use aphids for nutritional purposes. They place the tiny soft-bodied insects on stems or leaves of plants and will wait for the aphids to suck the sap out. The ant will then stroke the back of the aphid with its antennae to get a secretion of honeydew. Because ants find nutritional gain from aphid production, they oftentimes go to great lengths to protect them by providing shelter from predators.

    Fruits and Vegetables

    • Western harvester ants are among ant species that enjoy fruits and vegetables. Ant farm feedings have shown that lettuce, carrots, apples and celery are among the more tasty fruits and vegetables for ants.