Editing Ant (section)

===As food===
{{See also|Entomophagy}}
[[File:Ants For Food SG.jpg|thumb|left|Roasted ants in Colombia]]
[[Image:Ants Eggs Market Thailand.jpg|thumb|left|Ant larvae for sale in [[Isaan]], Thailand]]
Ants and their larvae are eaten in different parts of the world. The eggs of two species of ants are used in Mexican ''[[escamoles]]''. They are considered a form of insect [[caviar]] and can sell for as much as US$50 per kg going up to US$200 per kg (as of 2006) because they are seasonal and hard to find.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cruz-Labana |first1=J. D. |last2=Tarango-Arámbula |first2=L. A. |last3=Alcántara-Carbajal |first3=J. L. |last4=Pimentel-López |first4=J. |last5=Ugalde-Lezama |first5=S. |last6=Ramírez-Valverde |first6=G. |last7=Méndez-Gallegos |first7=S. J. |date=2014 |title=Habitat use by the "Escamolera" ant (Liometopum apiculatum Mayr) in central Mexico |url=http://www.scielo.org.mx/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&pid=S1405-31952014000600001&lng=es&nrm=iso&tlng=en |journal=Agrociencia|volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=569–582 |issn=1405-3195}}</ref> In the [[Colombia]]n department of [[Santander Department|Santander]], ''hormigas culonas'' (roughly interpreted as "large-bottomed ants") ''[[Atta laevigata]]'' are toasted alive and eaten.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = DeFoliart GR | title = Insects as food: why the western attitude is important | journal = Annual Review of Entomology | volume = 44 | pages = 21–50 | year = 1999 | pmid = 9990715 | doi = 10.1146/annurev.ento.44.1.21 }}</ref> In areas of [[India]], and throughout [[Burma]] and [[Thailand]], a paste of the green weaver ant (''[[Oecophylla smaragdina]]'') is served as a condiment with curry.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bingham|first= C.T.|year=1903|title=Fauna of British India. Hymenoptera. Volume 2|page=311|url=https://archive.org/details/hymenoptera02bing/page/311/mode/1up| publisher=Taylor and Francis|place=London}}</ref> [[Oecophylla|Weaver ant]] eggs and larvae, as well as the ants, may be used in a [[Thai salad]], ''yam'' ({{langx|th|ยำ}}), in a dish called ''yam khai mot daeng'' ({{langx|th|ยำไข่มดแดง}}) or red [[ant eggs|ant egg]] salad, a dish that comes from the [[Issan]] or north-eastern region of Thailand. [[William Saville-Kent|Saville-Kent]], in the ''Naturalist in Australia'' wrote "Beauty, in the case of the green ant, is more than skin-deep. Their attractive, almost sweetmeat-like translucency possibly invited the first essays at their consumption by the human species". Mashed up in water, after the manner of lemon squash, "these ants form a pleasant acid drink which is held in high favor by the natives of North Queensland, and is even appreciated by many European palates".<ref name="beq">{{cite journal |author=Bequaert J|year=1921 |title=Insects as food: How they have augmented the food supply of mankind in early and recent times|journal=Natural History Journal|volume=21|pages=191–200|url=http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/editors_pick/1921_03-04_pick.html}}</ref> Ants or their pupae are used as starters for yogurt making in parts of Bulgaria and Turkey.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mutlu Sirakova |first=Sevgi |date=2023 |title=Forgotten Stories of Yogurt: Cultivating Multispecies Wisdom |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02780771231194779 |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=250–261 |doi=10.1177/02780771231194779 |issn=0278-0771}}</ref>

In his ''First Summer in the Sierra'', [[John Muir]] notes that the [[Mono people|Digger Indians]] of [[California]] ate the tickling, acid gasters of the large jet-black [[carpenter ant]]s. The Mexican Indians eat the [[Honeypot ant|repletes]], or living honey-pots, of the [[honey ant]] (''[[Myrmecocystus]]'').<ref name="beq"/>