Ant Eating and Feeding Habits

Jumping ant, Harpegnathos saltator © Alex Wild

Ants have developed advanced ways to find, distribute and in some cases make their own food.

The quantity of food eaten by ants is unrivalled. It has been said that ants eat more meat than lions wolves and tigers combined (ants: natures secret power).

They are common pests in agricultural areas where they can quickly devour crops.

Ants feed on a large range of foods, from engine oil at the side of a road, to other ant species.

Most ant species are omnivorous and eat seeds, nectar, and other invertebrates.

Army ants are carnivorous, they hunt, kill and eat prey such as worms, spiders and even sometimes small vertebrates like lizards.

Leaf cutting ants are one of a few species of herbivorous ants, they feed on a type of fungus, which they grow from the chewed up remains of leaves and flowers that they take back to their nests.
Some people are known to eat ants as part of their diets! see this amazing ant fact to learn more.