You may have read about the riots in China - millions of investors lost big money to a company that had a plan to produce aphrodisiacs from ants. From all indications, this was a scam designed to fleece people of their hard earned Yuan. But there is a tradition of using ants as aphrodisiacs, and some science to suggest how it might actually have a real effect.

The Chinese controversy has all the earmarks of a ponzi scheme - there was a 'guaranteed' high rate of return (30%). When the first investors started getting paid (from the money of other investors, not from real profits), they told their friends and family, who became the next wave of victims. Eventually, the investment pool gets large and the people running the scheme start transferring the money to foreign bank account while planning their disappearance.

This type of con usually contains a grain or two of truth. Chinchilla, Ostrich and Llama farming all do have some economic potential, but nothing near what promoters claim. Enron did buy and sell real oil and electricity.

The same appears to be true for ant-farming; ants are an good source of biologically active medicines. They traditionally have been used as aphrodisiacs, among other things. Ants contain ecdysone and ecdysterone, steroid-like compounds that has some evidence of anabolic and aphrodisiac effects.

Historical Uses

The following passages are from an online manuscript from Gary J. Lockhart:

The Arab doctor Saduck wrote: “Ants were used externally in leprosy and as an aphrodisiac and to prevent the reproduction of hair in the axilla.”
...

"The Arabian school of medicine also believed that ants were aphrodisiac. “Take one hundred large, black ants and macerate them for three weeks in half an ounce of light oil. Anoint the urethra orifice to accelerate erections and a free discharge of he fluids.

Just guessing here, but the direct application may trigger a local stimulation/irritation effect similar to the one obtained from Spanish Fly, a traditional aphrodisiac that can be quite toxic. No evidence that ants contain the active ingredient cantharadin that is in spanish fly, but formic acid or some other compound in ants may raise an erection (or a rash).

Ant extract is included in at least one body-building preparation (M1T2). It is mixed with a variety of other phytoandrogens, so it is difficult to assess what (if anything) might be active in this product.

The Scientific Literature

I came across these articles that suggest that ants and other insects contain anabolic substances:

• The treatment of intrauterine growth retardation with ant polyrhachis vicina roger. Ant extract stimulates the growth of uterine tissue, probably via the ingredient ecdysterone.
• Moths contain some mixture of chemicals that increase the growth of male genitals in mice, and at least some of the effect is from beta-ecdysone (also found in ants): Androgen-like and anabolic action of Antheraea pernyi Guerin-Meneville Pas

Precautions

There are many different species of ants; some are relatively benign while others are quite toxic. This toxicity may be due to simple organic compounds like formic acid, or from more elaborate neurotoxins. The colorful poison arrow frogs typically lose their toxicity when raised in captivity, as they no longer eat certain species of poisonous ants found in the rainforest. The toxins of several species of ants (including aggressive fire ants) can cause allergic reactions in some cases.

People can develop serious allergies to ants, bees, and other biting insects.

Relevant Links

• Aphrodisiology Page on Ecdysterone (coming soon).
• Chinese Government Cover-Up in Ant Scandal? (Scotsman)
• Passions Cool After China Aphrodisiac Ant Protest (Reuters)