I thought I saw on Discovery Channel where some ants actually feed the
larvae and then "milk" them for food - is this the case or am I just
imagining things again?

"Happybattles" wrote in message
ups.com...
Heard this was a myth, ants do not eat solid foods, so anything
entering their gut is 'liquifid'.

Anyone know if this is a myth or fact?

[This is a myth. Ants can and do eat solid foods. Their mouthparts
are made for chewing. Most ants do not consume food themselves, but
instead feed it to the larvae who do the chewing and digesting. Then,
the workers, who are very busy, can just stop by, grab a quick snack
(from the larvae barfing the food into the awaiting ants' mouth) and
run along. Feeding them grits just means that they can spend their
time enlarging the colony instead of looking for food. They don't die,
you just make their jobs easier.]

however, unless they are [FIRE] ants, most people would
consider ants in a garden a plus. soil aeration is an
ant's specialty.

[Too many ants tend to aphids, which we all know are very harmful to
plants. The natural predators of aphids are killed by the ants who try
to protect the aphids as a farmer would his cows. Try here for more
information:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.c...control?lnk=li ]