Ant Island is a colony of ants led by the retiring Queen and her daughter, Princess Atta. Every season, they are forced to give food to a colony of grasshopper marauders led by Hopper. One day, when Flik, an individualist and inventor, inadvertently knocks the offering into a stream with his latest invention, a grain harvesting device, Hopper demands twice as much food as compensation. When Flik suggests in earnest that they seek help from other stronger bugs, the other ants see it as an opportunity to remove him and send him off.