Ant diets

[Dragonrock]

insects are extremely metabolically versatile. some roaches have been reared on nothing but styrofoam. i'd say that any source of sugars and water would do.
if you want anything definitive, you would need to look at species requirements, whick will be buried in technical literature. in general, maximizing production of an ant colony is not a common research goal.

[HomerRoach]

Mmm, styrofoam...

[/HomerRoach]

Thanks, that's what I figured, I did not think a balanced diet was really important to a scavenging insect.

 

[sickstan]

Fire ants in my old stomping ground in Mississippi (Pronounced "Miss Ippy") preferred diazinon or a basketball slamming into their nest repeatedly. Sometimes gasoline, but that would make a big yellow patch in the grass that was only marginally better looking than a fire ant mound. I remember a neighbor that lit a gasolined fire ant nest and nearly burned down his house (One of his friends got hold of a hose and kept the entire yard from engulfing his house in flames). I couldn't stop laughing until I realized how close we were to a conflagration. If you had on knee length socks, sunglasses, and a regimental visual surveillance program, you could use a magnifying glass to feed them some intensified sunlight. They liked that yes. Sometimes malathion bait. Sometimes firecrackers. An appertif of tap water via garden hose would make them ball up in delight.

Never tried boiling water. Mom didn't let me. Sounds exquisite though.