Sporadic pollen consumption among tropical ants

Although palynivory, or pollen consumption, is widespread in other Hymenoptera, there are few accounts of palynivory in ants. We subjected adult workers and larvae from 77 species of tropical ants to acetolysis, a process that dissolves most organic material but leaves behind pollen grains. Ants of 38 species contained pollen grains, suggesting that sporadic, opportunistic pollen consumption by ants is common, but not ubiquitous, in tropical forests.