Some, like big carpenter ants are unpleasant to eat and have a nutty taste with bitter overtones." FAO has registered some 1,900 edible insect species and estimates that there were, in 2005, some two billion insect consumers worldwide. Generally speaking, ants (of which there are nearly 12,000 known varieties) can be classified as omnivores. But I probably would just discard my food because crawling ants are just… yucks. Carpenter ants-- Carpenter ants have a reputation for eating wood, but they don't actually eat cellulose.They nest inside wood, hollowing it out in the process. According to the University of California’s Pest Management Program, ants prefer protein-rich, sweet foods, as well as insect corpses and certain plants. Food preference trials indicated that vineyard foraging ants preferred wet bait attractants over dry ones, making liquids the most ideal carriers for baiting these ants. Ants feed on a large range of foods, from engine oil at the side of a road, to other ant species. Harvester ants are known to collect seeds, store them, and then eat them. Not only that, the health benefits of eating ants have long been recognized as the main ingredient for the treatment of diseases like those of the Chinese. And according to Girl Meets Bug, ants can taste like anything from pistachios (leafcutter ants) to pork rinds (Guatemalan flying ants). Small black ants don't usually eat vegetables, but fire ants are another story. Usually, ants will approach the food that has a sweet taste. When determining which foods ants don‘t like to eat, you must first look at which foods attract ants. Linepithema humile was attracted to 25% sugar water, while C. peringueyi was attracted to both 25% sugar water and honey. Argentine ants which are natives of Argentina, Brazil, and are found sometimes in the US, eat eggs, oil, meat, and almost anything which humans leave around. Fire ants, like many other ants, will feed on other food substances like the sweet liquid produced by special plant glands called nectaries; and also on the honeydew produced by sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, scale insects, and mealybugs (see below).
Most ants are opportunistic feeders; they'll eat just about anything. Ants, like humans, have an incredibly diverse diet. Anything you can do to get rid of animal food and food that is not covered, clean spills, and cover or dispose of garbage so that helps you overcome the problem of ants. In fact, these ants are sterile and loaded with antimicrobial agents, which makes it even safer. Eating a flying ant (check him out below) actually literally sound like a … They prefer sweet foods like honeydew (a sugary liquid secreted by aphids), but will also eat other insects and flesh from dead animals. Today, insect eating is uncommon in North America and Europe, but insects remain a popular food elsewhere, and some companies are trying to introduce insects as food into Western diets. Specific ant species do have preferences, though. Most ant species are omnivorous and eat seeds, nectar, and other invertebrates.

Ants love food that is widely eaten by people, such as: salt, fat and sugar. And, like humans, ants are sophisticated and social animals who've devised any number of ingenious ways to locate, harvest, store and distribute their food. Ants are the number one enemies of termites, and in fact a species of the family, carpenter ants, eat termites.