in Java and the ant larvae provide a good balanced diet of proteins, minerals and vitamins. Kroto can be bought from pet shops or can be gathered fresh from the countryside. As bait for fish, the larvae are mixed with chicken eggs, maize, beans and honey. In some parts of India, the adult ants are used in traditional medicine as a remedy for rheumatism, and an oil made from them is used for stomach infections and as an aphrodisiac. In Thailand and the Philippines the larvae and pupae are eaten and are said to have a taste variously described as creamy, sour and lemony. In some parts of this ant's range, colonies are used as a natural form of pest control. Crops that have been protected in this way have included cowpea, cashew, citrus, mango, coconut, cocoa and coffee. The oldest written record of the use of these ants to control pests is their use in China in 304 AD to control pests in citrus. The ants are aggressive towards humans, and in Sri Lanka ant protection has been abandoned in coffee culture, because picking the crop proved too "painful". Gallery References External links Formicinae Hymenoptera of Asia Hymenoptera of Australia Insects of India Nepenthes infauna Insects described in 1775 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius