How do ants eat solid food, like eggs?

[SkeleAnt]

From all the info I've gleaned from AntsCanada and other sources, it seems like many (but not all) ants take in food that's in a liquid state, like how they drink the fluids of crushed insects. But I've seen the AntsCanada video where he feeds a hardboiled egg to a colony, and they immediately start breaking it down to take to the nest.

So my question is, how do ants eat solid foods like this if they mostly need the liquid portions of their food, not the solids?

[CombinedHalo467]

The food that the ants themselves eat is carbohydrates like sugar water or honey so they dont need to eat solid food but they also have a mesh in their mouth that prevents them from eating solid stuff so they just carry it in their mandables. But the larvae on the other hand dont have that therefore theycan eat both solid and liquid food, although i do not know a ton just learned that from the sources u did. I hope that answers your question

[AntsLuxembourg]

The food that the ants themselves eat is carbohydrates like sugar water or honey so they dont need to eat solid food but they also have a mesh in their mouth that prevents them from eating solid stuff so they just carry it in their mandables. But the larvae on the other hand dont have that therefore theycan eat both solid and liquid food, although i do not know a ton just learned that from the sources u did. I hope that answers your question

I never heard of that with the "mesh" in their mouth. Where did you find that information? Could you perhaps post a link to that info? I ask since that is the first time I ever heard of this and it seems a bit unlikely. Especially since leaf cutters grow their own mushroom and that is pretty much solid. Plus many ants sometimes soak up excessive water by placing dirt on the item they found and increase the viscosity of that food.

Not that you are wrong or right but it could apply only to a specific species of ants and I rather avoid misinformation.

[SYUTEO]

I think the ants mix some of their saliva with the food to make it mushy before sucking it up to eat it. Sounds gross but it could be true.

[AntsAntsAnts]

If that's true why do they avoid dry insect meat?

[CombinedHalo467]

I think it was a recent AntsCanada video from a couple weeks back maybe the one with the larvae im not sure but I think mikey said the mesh thing but as I said i am not completely sure.

[SYUTEO]

If that's true why do they avoid dry insect meat?

Probably because they can't smell dried insect meat or they just don't like dried food. Some ants will eat dried food and others don't.

[Antloverhuman]

Maybe ants would have to use too much saliva and water is important so they probably don't eat dried insect.