Do Honeypot Ants Make Honey?

Some species also make honey. “Honeypot ant” is a common name for the many species of ant with workers that store honey in their abdomen. ... Honeydew has long been a valuable sugar source for indigenous cultures in many parts of the world where native honey-producing bees are scarce.

What do honeypot ants taste like?

Honeypot ants of Australia fill their abdomens to grape-like size with a honey-like nectar, and are said to be quite sweet. Most other edible types of ant are said to taste sour or citrusy, like the appropriately named lemon ant of the Amazon, whose taste is due to a type of acid the ants produce.

Where do honeypot ants get honey?

During the rainy season, when food is abundant, other worker ants feed repletes. Honey ants' main source of food is sweet nectar gathered from desert flowers. Sometimes, workers will feed repletes liquids from insects killed by the colony (body fat from wasps or other ants, for example).