NY Ants Eat Human-Like Junk Food Diet: Study

Urban ants in New York have apparently developed some of the same eating habits of their human counterparts: their diet is rich in junk food.

Tests on insects collected from pavements and traffic islands in Manhattan show that their bodies contain the molecular fingerprint of junk food, according to research conducted in North Carolina State University.

The same was not true of more genteel ants that frequent leafy park areas.

"Human foods clearly make up a significant portion of the diet in urban species," said lead researcher Dr Clint Penick.

"These are ants eating our garbage, and this may explain why pavement ants are able to achieve such large populations in cities."

The scientists tested more than 100 ants representing 21 species from dozens of sites in New York’s sidewalks, streets and parks.

Their diet was assessed by analysing the kind of carbon in their bodies.

All animals, including humans, take in carbon from food, but the particular strain found the pavement ants was specifically associated with corn and sugar cane - which are abundant in human processed foods where they are used as sweeteners or to enhance flavour.

Researches said that the presence of the carbon-13 isotope indicated that the ants had adopted a junk food diet - especially pavement ants, the species with the highest levels of carbon-13.

The pavement ants, whose scientific name is "Tetramorium caespitum", fight for territory with rival colonies, and are also known to be a house pest.

"Our results demonstrate that the degree urban ants exploit human resources changes across the city and among species," said the researchers, whose findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society.