The odorous house ant is also known as the coconut ant or the stink ant. These pests are appropriately named due to the stink that they emit when they are crushed. The odorous house ant is very pesky and difficult to eradicate once it invades a human dwelling report Monmouth County, NJ exterminators.
On the exterior, odorous house ants build their nests under stones or in wood or debris pile. These types of ants will be found traveling both individually and in trailing formation. If you unearth a odorous house ant nest, the pests will scatter, grabbing any eggs that they can save. Some ants will react in a defensive mode by standing on their back legs as if ready to fight until the death.
Odorous house ants often enjoy large colonies with over 10,000 members. One reason that these ants have been successful at making large nests is because they have many queens producing eggs for the colony. It is not uncommon for large nests to be split into multiple locations. Once odorous house ants have found their way indoors, these ants will feast upon any type of human or pet food that they encounter. Like other types of ants, the odorous house ant leaves a pheromone trail as it travels so that other ants are able to find their way into the chow line. Pheromone trails can be interrupted by using soapy water to sponge up the stinky invaders.
Using store bought pesticides will kill odorous house ants on the surface but they will not reach into their nesting areas behind cabinets, in wall voids and under flooring. A Monmouth County, NJ exterminator will be able to provide a protective barrier against these pests so that their chance of entering a home or business will be eliminated.
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One response to “The Odorous House Ant…Stinky And Annoying”
What I’ve always weodnred about painting ants either to identify individuals as in this video, or to do population measurements etc. is how much effect the process has on the ants’ own recognition of one another as well as their physiology. While the visual change is probably not very significant in recognition, at least in most species, most paints have a distinct smell to the human nose, and to chemically communicating animals this seems like an more important modification. I have personally observed ants marked with fluorescent paint being aggressively repelled and attacked by nestmates upon attempting to reenter the nest. Also, what effect might a drop of paint have on sensory ability, cuticular flexibility, moisture retention, temperature regulation, etc.?