Sugar Water: The Hidden Superfood for Ants
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Leave a can of soda outside and it will be covered in ants in no time. Ants love sugar, and that is no coincidence: sugar is their most important fuel. In this post you will read why ants are so keen on sweet things, how they find sugar in nature and how to give sugar to your own colony.
Why ants love sugar
Ants are busy all day. They look for food, build the nest, defend the colony and care for the queen and the brood. That takes a lot of energy, and sugar delivers exactly that: quick energy.
Table sugar (sucrose) is made of glucose and fructose. These are absorbed very quickly, so an ant that finds sugar gets new energy straight away. Ants can also smell sweet food from quite a distance. Once one ant finds a sugar source, the other workers soon know about it too.
Sugar is also easy to take home. Ants can lift things much heavier than themselves, but a drop of sugar takes far less effort. For little work they get a lot of energy back.
Sugar in nature: ants that keep aphids
In nature, ants get much of their sugar from aphids. Aphids drink plant sap and give off a sweet droplet called honeydew. For ants it is one of the best food sources there is.
That is why many ants take good care of their aphids. They move them to the juiciest parts of a plant and chase away enemies such as ladybirds. In return they "milk" the aphids: they tap them gently with their antennae, and the aphid gives off a drop of honeydew. Some species even take their aphids into the nest at night or in cold weather. And when the colony moves, the aphid eggs sometimes simply come along.
So in a way, ants keep livestock. They were doing it long before humans started farming.
How ants share sugar in the colony
In a colony every ant has a task. Some workers look for food, others care for the brood or guard the nest. The foragers in particular need a lot of sugar. A sip of honeydew or sugar water gives them enough energy to travel far from the nest.
When they find a good sugar source, they share it with the rest. One ant passes a droplet to another, mouth to mouth. This is called trophallaxis. That way everyone in the colony gets energy, from the queen to the smallest worker. Want to know what else ants need besides sugar? Read What do ants eat?
Sugar water from Esthetic Ants
If you keep ants yourself, sugar is a fixed part of the menu. That is why we made our own vanilla flavoured sugar water. It is a mix of sugars with vitamins and minerals, so your ants get not only energy but other useful nutrients as well.
Our sugar water contains:
Fructose and glucose for quick energy
Vitamins B and C for a healthy colony
Magnesium, calcium and potassium to keep your ants in balance
It is great fun to watch your ants gather around a drop of sugar water to drink. It lets you see their natural behaviour up close.
How to use it
Shake the bottle well before use and give a small amount at a time, so nothing is left lying around to go mouldy. Keep the bottle in the fridge and it stays good for up to 6 months.
Want to treat your colony? Have a look at our vanilla flavoured sugar water in the shop. Your ants will love it.
Keeping ants in the United States?
Our US store explains how to feed sugar water to your ant colony step by step, and its sugar water ships from within the US.
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