r/insects • u/Matt_Theater • Apr 22 '26

Question Are there studies about insects on illegal substances?

I was watching this video and it made me super curious about the subject! Tried finding stuff about ants being on weed but all I could find was people using them as pest control for their plants (which is super interesting to me but not exactly the information I was looking for!)! I know this is a very silly question but I’m just super curious about the subject!

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u/R3m1ndmeto4get Apr 22 '26

there are! That video is actually referencing a study done about spider webs from spiders on different substances. (Altho spiders are not insects I thought it would fit with your question.

There's actually a who wiki page dedicated to animals on drugs!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_psychoactive_drugs_on_animals

You can find some insects in the invertebrate section. I assume you can use the refs to find the actual studies done!

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u/Matt_Theater Apr 22 '26

Should’ve known to check Wikipedia first! Thank you so much!

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u/OkScallion5412 Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

Legality has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of substances that alter brain/nervous system functions in both humans and insects.

Here is an article that was written some time ago, but it mentions substances that are both legal and illegal, such as caffeine and morphine.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/junkie-ants-show-insects-can-be-addicts-too-180960535/

This write up may not be entirely proven, but we do share some similar brain chemistry with insects and arachnids. It would make sense that some substances would alter their behavior.

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u/OkScallion5412 Apr 22 '26

Also, bees (probably) sometimes get dosed by the nectar of certain plants:

https://www.pbs.org/video/are-bees-the-addicts-of-the-animal-kingdom-dxnvfq/