Here's Why This Maine Ant Leaked Blue Butt Juice

Just when you think you’ve seen everything your Maine kitchen can throw at you, like ants, spiders, moths, and the occasional wayward lost frog, you go and squish an ant, and it bleeds BLUE.

Yes, BLUE

This is exactly what happened to Raija Suomela who posted in the Facebook page Maine Insects, to share her very very odd scientific discovery.

Raija Suomela via Maine Insects Facebook Page

Saying,

“I squished an ant in my kitchen and bright blue came out. Reminds me of the color of miracle grow. Any idea what caused this ant to be blue?"

This sentence raised some question and also had a lot of us laughing seeing an ant with blue butt juice.

Obviously, the comments rolled in like any good Maine mystery, some filled with confidence and some low on facts. One commenter chimed in with a very helpful tip saying, “Google tells me pheromones! Natural substance. Intriguing.”

So what is this ant butt goo? Honestly, it’s not Miracle-Gro, it’s more likely that the ant had ingested something artificial.

So what is this ant butt goo? Honestly, it’s not Miracle-Gro.

(Please don’t start watering your plants with ant juice.)

It’s more likely their glands, according to Science Alert, "when you squish an ant, you may see blue fluid come out of its abdomen because ants have a gland in their rear end that secretes antimicrobial fluids."

NBC adds a little more information to that saying, "some ants secrete antimicrobial fluids from glands located near their rear ends. These secretions are used for cleaning and protecting the colony, including the ants themselves and their young. While some ants have adapted to produce these fluids, not all ant species have this ability. The secretions can help prevent fungal growth in nesting materials and protect the brood from infection."

Science aside, here's my takeaway: if an ant in your kitchen starts leaking neon blue juices from it’s hiney, don’t panic.

You're just living in Maine, where even the bugs are weird.