The ants don't seem to be dying from contact with the used pads, although who knows what happens to them later, after they crawl away? They are the smallest ants I've ever seen, much smaller than a fire ant; and they are carnivorous. I trapped a large spider under a cup on the carpet and was going to take it outside, then forgot about it for a couple of hours, and when I lifted the cup those ants were all over the spider. Within another hour there was nothing left of the spider!