What Do Ants Eat? Understanding Ant Diets

According to the National Pest Management Association, understanding what ants eat is not just interesting — it is directly relevant to controlling them. The food preferences of the ant species invading your home determine which baits will work and which will be ignored. Ant diets are more varied and flexible than most people realize.

For a comprehensive overview, see our Complete Guide to Ants.

General Ant Diet

Step	Purpose	Best for	Watch out for
Inspect first	Confirm where ants are living, entering, or feeding before treating What Do Ants Eat? Understanding Ant Diets.	Avoiding wasted effort and targeting the source.	Treating visible signs only while missing hidden activity.
Remove attractants	Reduce food, shelter, moisture, or clutter that keeps the problem active.	Long-term prevention after the first treatment.	Leaving nearby attractants in place can restart activity.
Apply the right control	Use traps, exclusion, cleaning, heat, or labeled products based on the pest and site.	Active problems that need direct intervention.	Overusing products or applying them where they will not reach the pest.

Most ants are omnivores, eating both plant-based and animal-based foods. However, specific preferences vary widely by species and even by the colony's current needs. The three main food categories ants seek are:

Sugars and Carbohydrates

Many ant species are strongly attracted to sweet foods. In nature, their primary sugar source is honeydew — a sugary liquid excreted by aphids, scale insects, and mealybugs. Many ant species farm aphids specifically to harvest this substance.

In your home, ants seek out:

• Sugar, honey, syrup, and jam
• Fruit and fruit juices
• Soda and other sweet beverages
• Baked goods, cereal, and candy
• Sweet condiments like ketchup and barbecue sauce

Proteins and Fats

Colonies with growing larvae have high protein demands. During spring and early summer, when brood production peaks, even normally sweet-seeking species shift toward protein-rich foods.

Protein sources ants target include:

• Other insects (living and dead)
• Meat scraps and pet food
• Cheese and dairy products
• Nuts and seeds
• Peanut butter
• Grease and cooking oils

Fats and Oils

Some ant species, called "grease ants" (thief ants), specifically prefer fatty foods. They target cooking grease, butter, oil residue, and greasy snack crumbs.

Diet by Species

Odorous House Ants

Strongly prefer sweet foods. Honeydew is their primary food in nature. Indoors, they target sugar, syrup, fruit, and sweet spills. They will also eat proteins and fats when sugar is scarce.

Carpenter Ants

Do not eat wood — a common misconception. Carpenter ants excavate wood for nesting but feed on sugars, proteins, and living or dead insects. They are particularly fond of honeydew and will forage long distances for it.

Fire Ants

Broad omnivores. Fire ants eat insects, seeds, fruit, small vertebrates, and sweet substances. Newly mated queens rely heavily on stored fat and wing muscle protein.

Argentine Ants

Strongly prefer sweet foods and honeydew. Argentine ants tend aphid colonies aggressively and also consume proteins and fats.

Pharaoh Ants

Eat almost anything — sweets, fats, proteins, and even other insects. Pharaoh ants in hospitals have been found feeding on IV solutions, wound dressings, and medical waste.

Leafcutter Ants

Leafcutter ants do not eat the leaves they cut. They use the leaf material to cultivate a specific fungus in their underground gardens and feed exclusively on that fungus.

Harvester Ants

Primarily granivores — they collect and eat seeds. They store seeds in underground granaries and are among the few ant species with a predominantly plant-based diet.

How Ant Diets Change Over Time

Ant dietary preferences shift based on the colony's needs:

• Spring: Colonies ramp up egg production. Workers seek protein-rich foods to feed growing larvae.
• Summer: As the colony matures, the preference often shifts toward sugars for energy to fuel foraging and nest maintenance.
• Fall: Ants stockpile food for winter. Both sugars and proteins are sought.
• Winter: Most temperate-climate ants enter dormancy and do not actively feed.

This seasonal shift is why a bait that works well in June may be ignored in August. If ants stop taking a sugar bait, try switching to a protein-based option, or vice versa.

How Ants Feed the Colony

Foraging ants do not eat food for themselves alone. They share food with the colony through a process called trophallaxis — regurgitating liquid food and passing it mouth-to-mouth to other workers, larvae, and the queen.

This social feeding behavior is what makes ant baits effective. A forager consumes bait, returns to the colony, and shares the poisoned food with dozens of other ants. The toxicant spreads through the colony's food-sharing network, eventually reaching the queen.

Larvae also play a role in colony nutrition. Ant larvae can digest solid food that adult ants cannot. Workers feed solid food to larvae, and larvae secrete nutritious fluids that workers consume. This bidirectional feeding ensures the colony efficiently processes diverse food types.

Why Diet Matters for Ant Control

Choosing the right bait depends on understanding what the target species wants to eat right now:

• Sweet liquid baits: Best for sugar-seeking species (odorous house ants, Argentine ants, ghost ants) and for colonies in their carbohydrate-seeking phase.
• Protein/grease baits: Best for protein-seeking species (grease ants) and for colonies feeding larvae in spring.
• Combination approach: Offer both sweet and protein baits simultaneously. Let the ants choose. Replace the type they ignore with a different formulation.

If ants are ignoring your bait, they are probably craving the other food type. Switch it up, and you will likely see activity at the bait station within a day or two.

In my experience, the most useful advice I give homeowners is to set out both sweet and protein baits and let the ants choose. During a service call in Ocoee, Florida, ants had been ignoring sweet bait for weeks. The colony was in a spring protein-craving phase — a peanut butter-based borax bait had them swarming within an hour.

Understanding what ants eat turns their food-sharing biology into your most powerful control tool.

How to Identify

Observe what the ants are trailing toward to identify their current dietary preference. Ants clustered on sweet spills, fruit, candy, or sugar residue are in a carbohydrate-seeking phase: use sweet bait. Ants concentrated near pet food, meat scraps, or grease residue under appliances are seeking protein or fat: use protein-based bait. The most reliable diagnostic is the dual bait test: place a small drop of honey and a small drop of peanut butter near an active trail and check after 30 minutes. Workers will recruit to the preferred option, confirming which bait formulation to deploy. This test is more reliable than species-based assumptions alone, since most ant species change dietary preference seasonally and individual colonies vary.

Risk and Severity

Ants feeding on household food sources create a contamination risk: workers traveling between outdoor environments and food preparation surfaces can transfer bacteria. The degree of risk depends on which food is contaminated, the species involved, and frequency of contact. Pharaoh ants, documented to carry Salmonella and Staphylococcus, present the highest contamination risk when found in food storage or preparation areas. Common household species such as odorous house ants and Argentine ants carry a lower but real contamination risk on food surfaces. Ants accessing wet pet food left out for extended periods can introduce bacterial contamination that may affect sensitive pets.

Prevention

Prevent ants from accessing food by adopting storage and sanitation habits that eliminate the signals that trigger scouting in the first place. Transfer all pantry items from original packaging into sealed glass or hard plastic containers. Clean stovetop drip pans, under appliances, and pantry shelves monthly to remove accumulated grease and food debris. Wipe sticky residue off jars, bottles, and cans before storing. Rinse recycling before placing it in bins and dispose of food scraps promptly. These practices remove the food attractants that draw scouts into the structure, reducing the probability that a foraging trail develops into an established indoor colony.

Main Causes

Indoor ants activity typically traces to outdoor colonies in mulch beds, lawn soil, decking voids, or wall cavities near the foundation. Scouts enter through gaps under doors, foundation cracks, utility penetrations, and damaged weatherstripping when food residue, water from leaks, or warmth from heating runs is available inside. Pheromone trails reinforce within hours of a successful foraging trip, drawing dozens to hundreds of workers along the same route. Heavy rain, drought, or disturbance to an outdoor nest pushes whole colonies inside in pulses. Sweet residue on counters, unsealed pantry items, pet food bowls left out overnight, and leaking pipes are the most common triggers, and the closer an outdoor colony sits to the structure, the harder the pressure becomes to manage.

Solutions and Actions

Effective ant control combines bait, perimeter exclusion, and sanitation rather than relying on contact sprays. Identify the species first because bait selection depends on the colony's current dietary preference — sweet baits for odorous house ants and Argentine ants, protein-based or grease baits for thief ants, multi-bait stations for opportunistic species. Place bait stations directly on active trails, not in random locations, and allow workers to carry the slow-acting active ingredient back to the colony untouched — avoid spraying anywhere near bait. Treat outdoor satellite nests within twenty feet of the structure with a non-repellent residual. Seal entry points only after bait has had time to reach the colony, otherwise foragers seal their access while the colony continues producing replacements.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do ants eat wood?

No. Carpenter ants excavate wood for nesting but feed on sugars, proteins, and insects. Termites eat wood. Leafcutter ants use leaves to grow fungus but do not eat them.

Why do ants prefer sweet foods?

Many species rely on honeydew from aphids as their primary energy source. This evolutionary preference drives them to seek sweet foods indoors. Preferences shift seasonally — spring colonies often crave protein.

Can ants survive without food?

Individual workers can survive days to a few weeks without food. A colony deprived of food for extended periods will weaken and decline.

Why do ants prefer different foods at different times?

Colonies shift between sugars, proteins, and fats depending on weather, larval growth, and available resources. Growing brood often increases protein demand, while active foragers commonly seek quick sugar energy from honeydew, spills, or sweet bait.