Ants, Milk, Lactose, and Confusion - Issue #86

Hello Explorer,
After an incident that led to the demise of some of my ant colonies, I got a very intriguing and interesting question. Will ants eat milk? If this seems like a simplistic question, stick with me for a moment as we discuss this…
The question leads to more questions than answers at the end. But to answer the question we need to dive a bit deeper into the mechanics and working of the ants and the purpose and composition of milk itself. The best way to do this is to answer each of these individually and to see what similar, different, linking and contradicting, and from there to draw conclusions or hypotheses.
Ants are very simple creatures with basic digestive tracts and nutritional requirements. They do require all the needed amino acids, vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates that other creatures also require, but they usually prefer it in a simple and easily digestible form. Ants also require food that is readily available and have adapted to consume and utilise food sources that are readily available.
Let’s have a closure look at milk. Milk, produced by the mammary glands of mammals, is a complex food source that serves as the primary nutrition for infant mammals before they can consume solid food. It consists of water, proteins, complex sugars, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. Generally, milk is consumed directly from the mammary glands, and very little is ever spilled. Additionally, milk is exclusively produced by females during the period of rearing young, making it a rarely available resource for other animals, if ever available.
The main sugar in milk is lactose, which accounts for 98% of the total sugar content. Lactose is a disaccharide sugar formed by combining two different sugars, galactose and glucose, into a single molecule. Digestion of lactose requires specific enzymes called lactase.
Due to the unavailability of milk as a food source for ants, they lack the necessary enzymes to effectively digest it. Ants specifically lack lactase, which renders 98% of the sugars in milk indigestible to ants. The indigestibility of milk could lead to a digestive tract blockage leading to the death of the ant. Moreover, the high protein content is not ideal for adult ants, but it does benefit the larvae. The proteins in milk enhance the growth rate and life expectancy of the larvae. The adult ants do not grow anymore and thus they do not require protein, but a higher sugar content diet to sustain their active lifestyles.
I have read opposing observations and hypotheses on whether ants will consume milk. Some say that they avoid milk altogether and any other dairy products, others say that ants will indeed consume dairy products such as cheese and some fermented yogurts but not milk as it is, and some say that ants will consume fresh milk.
If it is true that ants do consume fermented dairy products it would likely be because the lactose content is lower due to the fermentation process, allowing ants to eat it without ill effects.
But the question remains: will ants consume milk? If they do, will it kill them? If it doesn’t kill them, will they continually consume it, or will they completely avoid milk due to its indigestibility? Would these results be species specific or a blanket response among all ants?
I am going to do a plethora of experiments to determine if ants do or do not consume milk. I do plan on making proper notes, taking good photos and videos, and finally to report back to you either in the form of a newsletter and/or a YouTube video (this might even become a series of YouTube videos).
Have you ever thought that such a simplistic question could be one that leads to an entire research project? I want to encourage you to write down any questions that you might come across and to Explore the answers to your questions, you might just find something that could lead to new Discoveries! Once you find something new make sure to share it with those around you so that you can learn together!

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].