Ants are stealing our picnic!
So we often see scenes in cartoons in which a nice picnic is laid out with all sorts of tasty food, and all of a sudden, we see half a sandwich moving away, followed by a banana, then the other half of the sandwich, etc.
What made this trope of ants stealing picnics so popular?
The earliest animation I could find was Ants at the Picnic (1930) by Disney.
Best Answer
General Idea about Ants:
Ants can eat a wide variety of foods. They eat plants, other insects and sometimes steal food from other insects. They also like sweets, which explains why they're more than happy to invade a picnic that showed up in their area.
In cartoons/films:
This ant-stealing-our-picnic has its comic aspect (as shown in movies/tv shows) which is a reason behind its popularity. In many shows, you probably see that leading character(s) goes/go to ant's area (or nearby area) and they steal foods and carry these to their home. This scene is depicted in a comedy way to make viewer laugh and it worked out.
Stealing food might be their way of saying that you decided to have a picnic on our turf and now you will pay.
In some species, there is a forager who finds foods when finished. When food is laid out on a picnic, smell of nice food, which is of course, makes them come out and steal it.
Pictures about "Ants are stealing our picnic!"
How do I keep ants away from my picnic?
Ants can feed on a wide variety of food sources. They eat plants, other insects and occasionally steal food from other insects. They also seem to like sweets, which is why they're more than happy to invade a picnic should one show up in their area!Ants robbing cocktails sticks from our picnic
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Images: Poranimm Athithawatthee, Estiak Jahan, Andre Moura, Egor Kamelev