Why ANTS cant eat your body -while sleeping-? as they can do it when you are dead?

Answer 1

I suspect the answer is they can, but when enough of them bite you, you'd wake up and do something about it. In Houston, some years back, some awful people abandoned a newborn baby girl in a plastic bag on the side of the road. They found her covered in ant bites but alive. Doctors said that the ant bites were bad, but if the ants had not eaten through the plastic bag the child would have suffocated, so it was just as well -- they could treat ant bites.

Of course, 6 months later I'm in the checkout at the grocery and see a headline on one of the "rag" newspapers: "Doctors amazed! Ants save baby girl's life!"

Answer 2

There are so many different ant types in the world, you cannot say anything specific about them. There are ants that eat anything in their way...live stock, people, forests, etc...as they do a march (South America). Any ant will eat whatever it can, live or dead. A form of torture is to tie a person out over an ant hill...trust me, it is a slow and painful death to be eaten alive by these small creatures, but it happens. Ant, in general, are omnivores, will eat anything they can get their mandibles on, and by shear number, can overwhelm many living things. Don't count on them not eating living things...they do if they can.

Answer 3

I agree with the first answer.

I'm also guessing there's a different type of odor, taste, gas, and etc. given off by dead bodies and not live ones. Maybe ants are attracted to that as well. Also, maybe the ants aren't eating as much as you suspect. The body's rapid break down could be attributed to other insects, temperature, animals, and decomposition itself.

Answer 4

when u r dead ur blood starts drying up and just remain with flesh and bad smell of bodyflesh may be that reason why ants eat when dead

Answer 5

Because you're alive ;) Yer gonna smack the **** outta anything that bites you when you're alive. After that, you're meat for the taking.

Answer 6

i was under the impression they could, and thats why when camping you wake up covered in bites. i think it just takes longer to completely eat you than your average person sleeps.