Co-inventor of Ant Farm dies

Milton Levine, co-inventor of the classic Ant Farm educational toy, has died in Los Angeles aged 97.

Uncle Milton’s Ant Farm has sold more than 20 million copies but it sprang from humble origins.

Mr Levine said that he got the idea while watching ants during a Fourth of July picnic in 1956.

He and his brother-in-law came up with a transparent habitat that allowed people to see ants digging tunnels. The ants were sent by mail.

Uncle Milton Industries went on to become a multimillion-dollar company, and Mr Levine sometimes joked that the ants’ most amazing feat was putting his three children through college.