My cat became giddy after playing with some ants, as if he had gotten into catnip.?

I was walking him on a leash and he stopped to dig at some leaves that had accumulated near the house. He disturbed an ant nest and all these very tiny ants came rushing out to find the culprit. My cat seemed to think this was pretty cool and he enjoyed watching the ants running to and fro. I moved him away from the ants, but a few had crawled onto him. He began grooming himself and no doubt ingested a few of the ants. Within a few minutes he was rolling around on the sidewalk like he had a good catnip buzz. Then he wanted to go get more ants!

So are there ants out there that cats will eat to get high? Catnip flavored ants, perhaps? I've had many cats over the years but have never seen this behavior before. Any ideas?