Honey ants are workers producing honey (6 photos + 1 video)

Did you know that honey bees are not the only insects that can produce honey? Perhaps the most unusual insects that transform nectar into a kind of honey are honey ants.





Honey ants are a special group of large worker ants. The most common species of honey ant is Camponotus inflatus. In their abdomens they store reserves of liquid carbohydrate food obtained from plant nectar - this is something like honey. They regurgitate it when necessary to other ants from the colony when they lack food.



At some point, honey ants' abdomens become so large that they cannot move - so they simply hang off the edge of the anthill until their fellow ants demand food. Most species of these ants live in dry or semi-arid regions of Australia, the United States, Mexico and Africa. Finding food in these areas is not easy, so the ants produce sweet nectar as an adaptation to survive in difficult conditions. Once upon a time, these ants even served as a dessert for the Australian aborigines.





Honey ants are extremely valuable individuals. Sometimes even other colonies attack them to steal nectar. What is the difference between bee honey and ant honey? The latter has a less viscous consistency, it is not as sweet and has a sour taste. In addition, ant honey contains much less glucose. Both are rich in antioxidants.