Let’s talk about Sugar Ants. They sound cute, right? Well, actually, they are freaks.
They got their name after one of their favorite food sources—sugar. Notice I didn’t say sugar was their very favorite food source? That’s because there’s something they like even better than sweet sugar. Prepare yourself, because it’s gross and I’m sorry:
Urine.
Yep.
But here’s the thing: the ants’ consumption of urine can help the planet. The ants are actually extracting urea compounds from the urine. That urea would otherwise go on to form nitrous oxide and then become part of the greenhouse gases that are affecting the earth’s climate.
Researchers exposed the sugar ants to sugar water, human urine, kangaroo urine, and a urea concentrate. The ants preferred the high urea solution, but that is not something normally available, so urine it is!
The research was done by the University of South Australia.