Odorous house ants may have a symbiotic relationship with aphids, but they surely don’t with humans! It’s easy to forget about these pesky little ants during the winter months in New Jersey as they are well hidden awaiting the warmth of spring. Once warmer weather arrives, the odorous house ants will be a lively bunch of hungry little bugs.
For the average person, most ants look the same, with the exception of the carpenter ant which is much larger than other ant species. The odorous house ant stands out among the rest because of the intense smell that they emit when they are squished…hence the name. The smell is likened to that of rotting coconuts.
Odorous house ants build their nests in soil, but do not require a deep nesting site. They are mostly attracted to sweets but will consume other human or pet food when it is available. Odorous house ants will not hesitate to invade a structure by slipping in through tiny cracks in concrete slabs or breaches in the structure. Once inside, they will travel back and forth between the colony and the hidden space. They are also known to reproduce within protected indoor environments. There are several queens that exist within an odorous house ant colony which is why their population growth is large and troublesome.
Proper identification of the invading ant species is important so that the correct control measures can be used. Failure to eliminate the queen or queens within the ant colony by spraying insecticide on ants that are seen trailing or those that have come into a structure will not eliminate a colony. In many instances, when under attack, ant colonies will divide when alarm pheromones are sent by other ant members. This budding of the colony will cause the original ant infestation to become a more significant problem than the one that originally existed.
In New Jersey, odorous house ants are a difficult pest to eradicate without the help of an entomologist or a Monmouth County, NJ pest control professional. Contact Allison Pest Control for expert help in eradicating all types of ants and other invasive insects and rodents.
