Ant Farm Ants in the Wild

Feeding

Of course, the name 'harvester' suggests that the ants only
eat plant material but that's not necessarily the case.
They will eat pretty much anything that contains a bit of
nutrition. They do eat seeds in abundance however, mainly
from grasses. Several of the grass species actually seed
themselves and grow on the ant-hill waste heap so food is
just on the doorstep for the ants. They will also eat the
seeds from numerous other plants as well as the nectar and
pollen from their flowers.

Carnivory

A wide range of carnivorous behaviors is reported for
harvester ants. These include the feeding of unhatched eggs
by the queen to her first brood of offspring and, in the
Florida harvester, the feeding of special sterile eggs,
laid by the workers, to juveniles. These are called trophic
eggs and this behaviour is unique to this species. I am not
aware of any examples of cannibalism among harvester ants
so your ant farm should be a peaceful community. It is
termites, the soft bodies, types that make up about 70% of
the ants' meat consumption. Other larger insects, such as
grasshoppers and crickets form the remainder, often the
ants will remove the soft tissue from the inside of the
insect's exoskeleton if they cannot move the entire insect
to the nest.

Foraging behavior

The most common foraging strategy is individual foraging.
In individual foraging, singleton workers will leave the
ant nest to forage for food alone. It is thought that this
was the first hunting strategy to evolve and consequently
it is the least successful in terms of losing ants in the
field. An individual ant is much more likely to be predated
upon by another insect or bird than is an organised group.
This brings us to group foraging behaviour which is one of
the most fascinating phenomena in the insect world. Many
species, including the Florida, western and red harvester
exhibit this behaviour and this is one of the reasons for
their success. Occasionally, you may find an ant column
that's over a hundred feet long and a couple of inches
wide. Imagine what they will do to any small animal that
gets in the way. When a group attack takes place the insect
(it's usually an insect) is cut up and taken back to the
nest. Often different ants will assume different roles when
dealing with prey, from attacking, to dismembering and even
digging underneath large prey to make it easier to move.
Although the armies of harvester ants on the move are a
fearsome sight to many animals, it should be remembered
that not all foraging trips are successful. The scouts fail
to come back with any food about 40% of the time. So the
ants in your ant farm ought to be eternally grateful that
you are providing them with food without their having to
move from their doorstep.