Which ants are the bitter tasting ones, black or red ants?

Question

I recall that someone who was injured or lost in the wilderness survived, in part, by eating ants. He said one color ant was bitter, but I don't remember which color.

Answer 1

I believe red ants would be more bitter, but not having done a taste comparison, it's only a guess. Red ants tend to be the fiestier of the two (is that a word? Spell check isn't working..) Army ants, fire ants, bulldog ants, all are red, so as far as I can think of it, the generalization holds. The reason they're more trouble is because of the relative amounts of formic acid they are able to produce (ants are of the family Formicidae, for precisely that reason). Higher concentrations of acid can make things taste sour (basic solutions are more likely to be bitter, but the account of the guy who was lost probably just settled on a word that sounded good for something that tasted sour or bitter or generally unpleasant... I doubt in a situation of survival, he would stop to think, "This is not quite sour like a lemon, but more bitter like chickory root, with a hint of nuttiness and a delicate finish with nuances of toast. I'd definitely pair this with a salad course of tossed microgreens and fiddlehead fern, with Spanish moss on the side!")

Answer 2

I saw on animal kingdom late one night a man was trapped in the wilderness and ate ants roasted by a self made fire. After talking to the man when he was found he said that all ants and bugs taste the same some have more juice than others!

Answer 3

black ants are bitter but i could be wrong...red ants taste like ketchup

Answer 4

I never ate a ant or a uncle

Answer 5

Be careful you don't choose the fire ants because if you pi-ss them off they will eat you.

Answer 6

red

Answer 7

I asked my Aardvark, but he just ignored me ;)