Donita Luddington wrote in
:

Are ants cannibals?

A huge trail of ants (many hundreds) was on my kitchen counter last
night so I sprayed them with vinnegar (I was out of windex so I used
vinnegar instead). Being late, and wishing the vinnegar to discourage
new foragers, I retired for the evening.

Much to my chagrin, another, even larger swarm of Argentine ants had
taken over my counter top, this morning - and the dead ants seem to
have disappeared. I was surprised.

So, I sprayed 'em again and left the area for a while. Sure enough,
yet another swarm replaced the second, and I noticed some carrying
away the dead bodies of their camerades.

My question..... Are ants cannibals or did the inadvertant pickling
entice them to cannibalism?

Something to be learned here? Maybe ants marinated with vinegar taste good?