Inland Ants Often Prefer Salt Over Sugar, Implying Salt May Be A Limitation On Their Activity
Friday, October 31, 2008 - 18:28
in Biology & Nature
Mammals are limited by the availability of salt, and now researchers have shown that ants are too. In experiments in North, Central and South American, researchers have shown that plant-eating and omnivorous ants living more than 60 miles inland are more interested in salt than sugar, with the preference greater the farther they live from the coast. Carnivorous ants show no such preference.