--- title: What Do Ants Eat: Some Urban NYC Ants Like To Eat Human Food description: Some species of ants living in New York City have grown to like eating human food, according to a new study. canonical: https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-01T12:42:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:30.076Z article:section: Science og:title: Some NYC Ants Like to Eat Junk Food, Study Finds og:description: The study may indicate which ants could help humans clean up trash og:url: https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Some NYC Ants Like to Eat Junk Food, Study Finds twitter:description: The study may indicate which ants could help humans clean up trash twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Some NYC Ants Like to Eat Junk Food, Study Finds ## Video: Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species [Watch (HLS stream): Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zHyAT7e9.m3u8) (2:18)  _Published 2013-12-04. What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? TIME's Bryan Walsh explains how animals like the Asian carp, lionfish, and Burmese python can be a threat._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 12:42 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 1, 2015 12:42 PM UTC Some of the ants crawling around New York City have developed a taste for junk food, according to a new study. The study in the journal [_Proceedings of the Royal Society B_](http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1806/20142608), which analyzed samples from more than 20 ant species in Manhattan, looked at levels of a type of carbon typically found in processed foods that humans eat. Ants that lived on the sidewalk and other paved areas in the Big Apple tended to have carbon isotope levels more similar to humans, while ants that lived in parks had lower levels, the study found. “Human foods clearly make up a significant portion of the diet in urban species,” said study author Clint Penick, a researcher at North Carolina State University, in a press release. “These are the ants eating our garbage, and this may explain why pavement ants are able to achieve such large populations in cities.” The study may indicate which types of ants that could help humans clean up trash, Penick added. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/"},"headline":"Some NYC Ants Like to Eat Junk Food, Study Finds","datePublished":"2015-04-01T12:42:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:30.076Z","description":"The study may indicate which ants could help humans clean up trash","url":"https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/","keywords":["animals"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3766826/nyc-ants-human-food/","name":"Some NYC Ants Like to Eat Junk Food, Study Finds"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Overstepping Boundaries: The Danger of Invasive Species","description":"What are invasive species, and why are they dangerous? 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