> Donita Luddington wrote:

>> 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?

>
> Your ants are either omnivores or carried away the bodies of their loved
> ones for proper Christian burials.
>
> I say this because cremation is probably not an option for an ant.