> 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?