Updated on 13 October 2026. The original 2007 post is kept below.
Colombia’s “big-bottomed” ants
These are hormigas culonas, literally “big-bottomed ants”, a much-loved speciality of the Santander region in north-central Colombia. They’re the queens of a leaf-cutter ant species. Each spring, after heavy rain and sunshine, the winged queens leave their nests for their mating flight, and that’s when locals collect them. The rest of the year they live metres underground, so timing is everything.
The queens are roasted with salt and eaten like peanuts. People compare the taste to peanuts, popcorn or even crispy bacon. The tradition goes back centuries to the Indigenous Guane people, and Spanish settlers picked up the habit. Today the ants are a pricey delicacy: in 2016 The World reported they can sell for over ten times the price of Colombian coffee per pound, and restaurants in Bogotá serve them with steak or in sauces.
Locals proudly call them Colombia’s caviar. Honestly, caviar never had a mating flight.
More crunchy ants: chocolate covered ants and Nigerian desert shrimp.
From the 2007 original
As they say about Giant roasted ants:
“Have them on toast or maybe a quick snack. These ants are giants compared to our native ants and actually have pea sized abdomens, so you will have to chew before you swallow. Harvested by Guane Indians in Columbia they are then toasted with salt in a mud pot. They apparently have a similar taste to crispy bacon with an earthy taste, although we doubt these will replace a few slices of bacon between a crusty bit of bread. Enough in a pack to last a few bushtucker trials or two sandwiches.”
Yours to shop, serve and enjoy. £13,99 per bag from British Lazybone web shop.
Source: www.lazyboneuk.com
