The AntsCanada Ant Forum's

I usually feed my ants canned insects and those insects are still moist. At the pet store I saw freeze dried crickets and freeze dried mealworms in containers. They look very convenient, but there is no moisture left in them. Can ants eat freeze dried insects? Or they need fresh juicy insects.

Adult ants can only drink the hemolymph from insects. They must have larvae in order to break down solid foods (if your ants find them palatable to begin with).