Odorous House Ant

Odorous house ant (Tapinoma Sessile) is a small ant specie that resides in houses and has a repugnant odor. They are also called sugar ant, stink ant, and coconut ant. They are social ants that live in colonies with hundreds of workers and one queen per colony or thousands of workers and hundred queens in closely knit territories.

The odorous ants are quite small, with a top to bottom length of 2.4 to 3.3mm. They have dark brown or black bodies and an unevenly shaped thorax. There is a single node on their petiole, which is hidden by their abdomens. The most distinguishing factor of the house ants is its foul odor when crushed.

Odorous house ants travel in trails, foraging day and night. They feed on a variety of things especially sweet things from seeds to plant secretions to insects especially sap-sucking insects like aphids and mealybugs who produce sugary waste. The nest can be built both inside and outside the house.

Inside the house, they build their nests in wall voids, around hot water pipes and heaters, in crevices, sinks, cupboards, etc. They feed on sweets, meats, grease, dairy products, pastries, vegetables, and juices. Outside, they can be found in exposed soil, shallow depths, sometimes beneath a board, brick, stone walk, etc. and they feed on insects.

Odorous house ants are not easy to control and need patience and attention since they attack almost any food and forage both outside and inside the house. Like ants in general, odorous house ants, drop a chemical trail of pheromones between food sources and nest. Non-repellent spray can then be applied to eliminate them.

Baiting is another efficient method. Place baits (food that they can be attracted to) near the trails and then apply insecticides to kill the foraging ants and stop them from taking food back to the colony. Call a pest professional for additional help.