CATDOLL : CATDOLL: What do ants eat?

What do ants eat?

Ants are divided into carnivorous, omnivorous-carnivorous, omnivorous-vegetarian and vegetarian. Carnivorous ants mainly eat insects, omnivorous-carnivorous ants are more attracted to meat, omnivorous-vegetarian ants are easily attracted to sweets, and vegetarian ants eat plants and fruit juices, etc.

meat:

The main food is insects, and the pure carnivorous ants are relatively rare. The meat that these ants eat should be fed according to the ants' preferences.

Omnivorous and carnivorous:

There are more omnivorous and carnivorous ants. They eat both vegetarian and nonvegetarian food. Meat is more likely to attract them, and they generally accept insects. In general, they mainly feed on carnivorous and dead insects, as well as fruits and honeydew. When feeding, you can feed insects, fish (can be eaten raw), cooked pork, cooked chicken, etc.

Omnivorous vegetarians:

For example, when insect corpses and sweets appear at the same time, omnivorous ants are more likely to be attracted to the sweets.

vegetarian diet:

Among all ant species, pure vegetarian ants do not account for a large proportion. Some ants only eat certain special plants and fruit juices. For example, leaf-cutter ants abroad bring leaves back to the nest to grow fungi.

Ant's appearance:

The body of an ant is divided into three parts: the head, thorax, and abdomen. It has 6 legs, a thin and elastic body wall, membranous wings, and is hard and brittle. The body color of ants is mostly brown, black, brown, and orange-red. Some have stripes, and there is a distinct thin waist between the thorax and abdomen, which is dull or has a metallic luster. Ants are completely metamorphosed insects, and they have to go through the stages of eggs, larvae, and pupae before they develop into adults. Ants belong to the order Hymenoptera of the class Insecta, and are mostly black, brown, yellow, and red. When they are just born, they are transparent throughout, with smooth bodies or burrs, carvings, and tumors. The head is usually broad, with knee-shaped antennae, 4-13 segments. The compound eyes are small and retracted, with 3 simple eyes located on the top of the head. The mouthparts and legs are well developed, and the tarsus has 5 segments. Sexual individuals have 2 pairs of wings, and worker ants are usually wingless. The abdominal segments at the base are significantly contracted to form an abdominal stalk. The abdominal stalk has 1-2 segments, and each segment has 1-2 tubercle-like protrusions on the back. Most species are polymorphic and are social insects.

Living habits of ants:

Ants can grow normally within 15-40℃, but the optimal temperature is between 25-30℃. In winter, they will go into caves when the temperature is below 10℃, but they will not hibernate. They just stop moving frequently and eat the food stored in autumn in the caves.

Social characteristics of ants:

Ants are typical social groups. Individuals of the same species can cooperate with each other to take care of their young; there is a clear division of labor; at least two generations overlap in the ant colony (not excluding individual cases), and the offspring can take care of the previous generation for a period of time. Ants are definitely construction experts. There are many compartments in the ant nest, each of which has its own use. The ant nest is strong, safe, and comfortable, with roads extending in all directions and intricate. There is also a circle of soil outside the ant nest, and some places to store food. The inside is ventilated and cool, warm in winter and cool in summer, and the food is not easy to spoil. Ants are also famous architects in the animal world. They use their jaws to dig holes in the ground and build their ant nests by moving sand and soil one by one. The "rooms" of the ant nest will always remain in the shape they were originally built unless the soil dries out severely. Ant research expert Walter Chilgale modeled the ant nest. He poured liquid metal, paraffin or orthodontic plaster into the ant nest of the invading red fire ant, and dug it out after it solidified.

Ants' division of labor:

The division of labor among ants includes queen ants, worker ants, soldier ants, and reproductive ants. Their respective responsibilities are: the queen ant is responsible for laying eggs and expanding the colony; worker ants are responsible for all work except reproduction, including nest building, raising larvae, caring for the queen ant, caring for reproductive ants, finding food, etc.; soldier ants are responsible for resisting invasion or decomposing large pieces of food; reproductive ants are responsible for leaving the nest for mating and reproduction in the appropriate season.

Male reproductive ants will die soon after mating with female reproductive ants, so they are small in size. Female reproductive ants will find or dig a cave after mating and begin laying eggs and reproducing. Because reproduction requires a lot of energy, female reproductive ants generally replenish enough energy before leaving the nest. When the first batch of worker ants hatch, the worker ants will go out to find food, and the worker ants will be responsible for raising the larvae thereafter.

Ant distribution range:

Ants are the most common and most numerous insects on Earth. Huge ant colonies can survive in almost every corner of the world. It is estimated that there are at least 101.8 billion ants active on Earth. Ants are widely distributed in the world. Except for the Antarctic, the Arctic and the snow-capped mountains that never melt, which are extremely harsh places for living, the distribution of ants covers most of the land areas on Earth. According to statistics, there are about 11,000 species of ants in the world: there are more than 2,000 species of the subfamily of Formicidae on Earth, mainly distributed in subtropical and tropical humid areas, such as the Amazon rainforest, the Congo River Basin and other areas. As for the honey ant colony, the more famous ones are the North American honey ants and the Mexican honey ants, which are mainly distributed in North America and Mexico: various types of ants live in countries and regions around the world. As long as there are certain living conditions, the tenacious ants can adapt well to the environment and survive.

Depending on the species, ants like to prey on insects, spiders and other small animals; some are herbivorous, eating seeds, fungi and other plant matter; some are omnivorous.

What do ants eat as food?

Ants can eat both vegetarian and meat.

Ants usually eat mainly meat, but they are not picky about insects. In addition to insects, they can also be fed with animal protein.

Available food includes carnivorous and dead insects, fruits, and honeydew. When feeding, you can feed insects, fish, cooked pork, cooked chicken, etc.

Ants' food intake:

If ants are fed too much, the food will easily expire and become moldy and rotten in the nest, which will easily attract small insects that mainly feed on carrion to move in. When they reproduce in the nest, it may be detrimental to the appearance. If there are too many small insects, it may also endanger the safety of the ant larvae.

In addition, if the food source is live insects, parasites or mites that have previously laid eggs on the food may grow on them. The mites will then multiply like a plague in the nest and attach themselves to every ant and larva. The parasitized ants may be covered with multiple mites at the same time and usually do not live long. This also creates a fatal crisis for the entire colony.

Ants have a variety of diets, including omnivorous and carnivorous, omnivorous and vegetarian, vegetarian, carnivorous, etc. Ants with different diets eat different foods. But generally speaking, ants like to eat sweet things, such as honey, sugar, etc.

Ants generally eat meat and sweets, but they can also eat vegetarian food.

Ants can eat both vegetarian and meat

The dietary characteristics of ants can be simply divided into four categories: carnivorous, omnivorous and partially carnivorous, omnivorous and partially vegetarian, and vegetarian. They generally like to eat sweets such as sugar and cakes. They also eat crops, fresh fruits, insects (alive or dead), meat, fruit juice, honey, jelly, sugar, oil, fat, honeydew, etc.

1. Carnivorous: It is best to use insects as the main food. The proportion of pure carnivorous ants is relatively small, but each type of carnivorous ants has different preferences for food, so not all insects can be used as food for all carnivorous ants. Therefore, when raising them, you need to prepare the insects that the ants like to eat, otherwise it will often cause the ants to mistakenly think that they have enough food, but they will not eat or starve to death. Therefore, if you cannot prepare the food that the ants like, it will be very frustrating to raise them.

2. Omnivorous and carnivorous: The proportion of omnivorous and carnivorous ants is relatively large. They can eat both vegetarian and nonvegetarian food. However, nonvegetarian food is usually more attractive to them. They are not picky about insects and generally accept all kinds of food. In addition to insects, you can also feed them with animal protein. Examples of foods that can be used are as follows: mainly carnivorous and dead insects, plus fruits and honeydew. When feeding, you can feed insects, fish (can be eaten raw), cooked pork, cooked chicken, etc.

3. Omnivorous and partially vegetarian: There are many overlaps between omnivorous and partially vegetarian ant species and omnivorous and partially carnivorous ant species. The only difference is that when insect corpses and sweets appear at the same time, omnivorous and partially vegetarian ants are more easily attracted to sweets.

4. Vegetarianism: The proportion of pure vegetarian ants is not high among all ant species. Some ants only eat certain special plants or fruit juices. For example, leaf-cutter ants in foreign countries bring leaves back to the nest to grow fungi and use fungi as their only food. Therefore, raising this kind of ants is just like raising pure carnivorous ants. You must ensure that you can prepare food first, otherwise it will be very frustrating.