What Eats Ants? A Comprehensive Guide to Ant Predators

If you've been curious about what eats ants, the answer is: most things - beetles, spiders, birds, frogs, even bears. With ants ranked so low in the hierarchy of prey, predators from every corner of the animal kingdom will happily feast on them. These natural predators effectively prevent overpopulation in the wild, though as we'll discuss, they're rarely enough to deal with an infestation at home.

Here’s a rundown of the most common animal and insect predators of ants.

Animals That Eat Ants

Plenty of mammals eat ants, not just the obvious ones. Black carpenter ants and black ants are eaten by animals living in many different types of habitats.

• Anteaters get all the credit, and fairly so: they feed almost exclusively on ants, pulling them from nests with tongues that can reach two feet long. 
• Aardvarks and pangolins have their own specialized adaptations for the job. 
• Chimpanzees will stick twigs into ant colonies and lick off whatever climbs up, a technique researchers have studied for decades.

• Here in the U.S., bears will dig into ant nests for the larvae inside. 
• Coyotes, skunks, and armadillos eat them regularly. 
• Armadillos especially, since they spend so much time rooting through soil. 
• Frogs and toads eat them sometimes as well. 

Insects and Spiders That Eat Ants

Beetles - ground beetles and tiger beetles in particular - are some of the most consistent ant predators out there. Ant-loving beetles take it a step further, working their way into a colony to eat the larvae from within.

Spiders are tough competitors too. Jumping spiders hunt ants with pinpoint accuracy, wolf spiders chase and catch them, and trapdoor spiders wait patiently near nest entrances. Other spider species mimic their prey, blending in with the colony until they're ready to pick off its inhabitants one by one.

Assassin bugs inject venom to paralyze ants before feeding, and parasitoid wasps lay their eggs on or near ants. The developing larvae then eat their way through the host as they grow.

Then there are antlions, also known as doodlebugs. Their larvae excavate cone-shaped pits in loose soil and sit at the bottom waiting. When an ant walks over the edge, the larva captures it with massive jaws before the ant can scramble out.

Phorid flies have a different method, laying eggs directly on living ants so that their developing young feed on the insect from the inside out.

And ants eat other ants. Fire ants and army ants both raid smaller species, plundering their brood and killing their workers.

Birds That Eat Ants

Woodpeckers and flickers eat ants regularly, pounding away at nests with their sharp beaks. A single woodpecker can put away hundreds of ants in just one day. Sparrows, starlings, and robins pick ants off the ground, especially during breeding season when their chicks need protein-heavy meals. Wrens hunt through dense vegetation, and bluebirds swoop down from perches to catch ants on the trail.

There's also an unusual behavior called "anting", where some birds deliberately rub ants along their feathers. The formic acid from the ants may help ward off parasites, though scientists still debate exactly why birds do it.

Reptiles and Amphibians That Eat Ants

Horned lizards feed primarily on ants, catching them with sticky tongues. Skinks - fast, shiny lizards you'll spot darting across rocks - eat ants alongside beetles and other small invertebrates, sometimes in impressive quantities. Garter snakes won't turn down ants either, though they're not specialists.

Frogs catch ants using their long tongues, and toads are by far the most committed ant predators among amphibians. A single toad can eat dozens of ants in a night, hunting actively during the warm, damp hours when ants are most exposed.

When Natural Predators Aren’t Enough

All of these predators keep ant populations in check across wild ecosystems. But in your home or business, ant infestations follow a different game plan. Natural predators are generalists who will pick off the odd foraging worker, but they don't target the queen or disturb the nest structure. A colony with thousands of workers replaces lost foragers faster than any bird or beetle can eat them.

Knowing what eats ants in the wild doesn't fix the problem when a colony has set up under your foundation or inside a wall void. For that, you need targeted treatment from professionals who can locate the nest and eliminate the queen.

Twin-Boro's residential pest control and commercial pest control services handle exactly that - ant problems at the source.

Contact our team if ants have become more than a passing nuisance.

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