Why do ants suddenly appear when you spill something sweet?
Ants are attracted to sweet substances because they provide a valuable source of energy for their colonies. When you spill something sweet, such as juice or syrup, the odor of the sugary substance quickly spreads, and foraging ants detect it.
Ants have a highly developed sense of smell and can detect even trace amounts of sugar or other attractive chemicals. Once a scout ant discovers the spilled sweet substance, it will communicate the find to other ants in the colony by leaving a trail of pheromones leading from the food source back to the nest.
The trail of pheromones guides other ants to the spilled food, and soon a steady stream of ants will follow the trail to collect and transport the sugary liquid back to the colony. This is why ants seem to suddenly appear when you spill something sweet.
To learn more about the strength and remarkable abilities of ants, including their capacity to lift up to 50 times their body weight, you can read the article "The Strength of Ants: Lifting Up To 50 Times Their Body Weight."