Scientific name: Tapinoma sessile
Odorous house ants are small (smaller than a sesame seed), brown to blackish ants. One of the most easy ways you will be able to identify an odorous house ant is by their smell. When you crush an odorous house ant, they smell like rotten coconut. If you have never smelled a rotten coconut, feel free to smash an odorous house ant. Some people also describe the smell as rancid sweet butter.
General Information
Odorous house ants live outdoors until times get hard. If they cannot find aphids and scales for their honey dew, they will move inside. Large rain storms can be another event that will force the ants inside. Once indoors they will make their nests inside of your wall voids. They have also been known to make nests under carpet and behind paneling. Outdoors, you will find their shallow nests under logs and rocks. Odorous house ants love sugary food like baked goods and cereals. If sugary foods cannot be found, they will eat meats and grease. One of the characteristics of an odorous house ant is its panic behavior. If disturbed, an odorous house ant will raise its abdomen into the air and move with erratic, drunken movements.
Signs of an Infestation
There is one big sign to an odorous house ant infestation; you are going to see a lot of ants. Odorous house ant colonies can contain as many as 100,000 individuals. Many colonies contain more than one queen, and can produce a lot of new ants. With all those mouths to feed, ants will be looking for food all day and all night. Since odorous house ant colonies are so large, it is difficult to eliminate their colonies. If you have an odorous house ant infestation, the solution is simple, call Pointe Pest Control.
Treatment
We use the proven principles from integrated pest management. That means our technicians use a multipronged treatment method that will eliminate any odorous house ant colony. We can even take steps to keep them from coming back. When you want the best in ant elimination, you need Pointe Pest Control.