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they feel their way to and from food. Much of that food,
remember, is stolen, either from other ants or from you and me.
A colony of tiny thief ants scrambles for cover when its nest gets
disturbed. - © Alex Wild
nest or happen to lift a dead insect and find a bevy of thief ants,
mid-snack, I always stifle a squeal. Thief ants are unbelievably,
ridiculously cute.
Their size might play a big factor in their cute-ness. At 1/16th of
an inch, a thief ant worker could wander comfortably around in
the lowercase “o’s” on this page. Most often a golden yellow
color, thief ant workers vary along the color spectrum all the way
to amber. They have stingers but are too tiny to cause you any
pain. They look like they wander around really slowly, but actually
they’re just super small. If you had a microscope, you could see
that each antenna has a bulb on its end, and they bonk about as
Thief ants get their name from their habit of setting up camp next
to other ant species’ nests. Thief ants love protein and stuff their
bellies on dead insects, people food, and insect eggs. When the
other ants bring home thief ants’ favorite foods, those crafty little
burglars sneak that food right on over to their own houses and
feast. They’ve also been known to smuggle out other ants’
babies, tasty snacks for greedy thief ants. When other species’
colonies are weak or dying, thief ants aren’t as sneaky. They run
through the nests’ halls like children running down the aisles of a
Toys R Us shopping spree, eating their fill of dead and dying ants.
Their crimes and misdemeanors don’t stop with the insect world:
A thief ant will rob you blind if you don’t watch out. Thief ants are
opportunists, and they recognize that your kitchen is a wonderful
opportunity for the biggest heist of their lives. Because thief ants
are so small, many people have a hard time figuring out how to
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