# Fastidious ants from the future
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [April 14, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649 "2006-04-14T12:45:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2006, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/1 "2006-04-14T12:45:41Z")
I just read the staff report on [Ants](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mantsdisease.html). I have but one question. Today is April 14, 2006. How did Staffer Doug write his column on April 20, 2006?
A comment on the report, when I was a child, our neighbor, who came west on a wagon train as a child, (she was over 100) said that ants were one of the insect treats the children were given in the evenings. They were cooked in frying pan over the fire. She said they tasted sweet, where as grasshoppers were nutty. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/2 "2006-04-14T13:38:14Z")
Staff Reports are (usually) made available to members of the mailing list on Friday, but they are dated and appear on the website on the following Tuesday. To join the mailing list, go to the Home Page and you’ll see the link.
Or [just go here.](http://www.straightdope.com/index.html#maillist) At the moment, there’s a problem with AOL-users who don’t receive the mailings.
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [April 14, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/3 "2006-04-14T15:24:46Z")
I’m on the mailing list, that’s where I read it. Maybe I just liked the idea of ants from the future. 😃
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/4 "2006-04-18T16:58:48Z")
> [@picunurse](#):
>
> I’m on the mailing list, that’s where I read it. Maybe I just liked the idea of ants from the future. 😃
As do I. In fact, it might be fair to say that I welcome our anticipated insect overlords.
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### Author:  [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)
#### Post date: [April 18, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/5 "2006-04-18T18:02:17Z")
OK, regardless of their commitment to cleanliness, there is still the issue of **ant poop**. For that reason alone, don’t eat the cookies!
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [April 19, 2006, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/6 "2006-04-19T02:51:48Z")
You eat bee vomit, why not ant poop? Given their habits it’s likely to be cleaner than almost anything else you eat anyway.
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### Author:  [@Pullet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pullet)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2006, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/7 "2006-04-24T04:28:05Z")
I read that article and was surprised the Master didn’t mention the Lancet Fluke, a little parasitic worm who mindcontrols ants in order to complete its life cycle.
Here’s a cool [description](http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=2&cat=1621&articleid=731) . Admittedly, humans are not known to be an host for these worms, and even if they were, you’d have to eat the ant raw to get them. But still. Who can pass up the opportunaty to talk about brain controlling parasites?
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### Author:  [@Spiff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiff)
#### Post date: [April 28, 2006, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fastidious-ants-from-the-future/352649/8 "2006-04-28T14:00:41Z")
> [@picunurse](#):
>
> She said they tasted sweet, where as grasshoppers were nutty. :dubious:
They all taste like chicken to me.