Why are ants attracted to saliva?

[Oerg]

Sweet Saliva??

Hi

I have always noticed that ants are always attracted to my cup, even though its only plain water in there,

however I recently decided to test what they were attracted to, so i had some saliva on mine on the table to see if the ants responded to that, sure enough they did.

Why were they attracted to my saliva? issit sweet? Is there a good chance that I am diabetic?

 

[BryanP]

Well, saliva is roughly 98% water so, if they're attracted to "plain water," they for sure will be curious about your saliva. Don't forget there are other things in your saliva as well, such as electrolytes.

I don't think it necessarily has to do with you being diabetic.

 

[Evo]

Ants are very attracted to water. Like a new ant killer that I purchased says "Ants enter the home in search of water and are most often found near water sources. This is because an ant can live for a long time without food, but cannot survive even one day without water."