Are You Sure That the Ants Are Eating This?

Molting fluid is a fluid that all insects produce because they have to shed their exoskeleton, their skin in order to grow. Most solitary insects absorb and recycle this molting fluid but now it turns out that the ants actually secrete it. The adults drink it as it accumulates and on top of that they also bring the larvae of the ants which in ants can't really move independently. So the larvae also lap up this liquid as it gets secreted. If the fluid is not removed the ant pupae die of fungal infections.