Odorous House Ants

Biology

Odorous house ant colonies may contain up to 100,000 ants with many queens. Super colonies may exist where food, water and brood are exchanged between satellite locations. Indoors, odorous house ants nest in wall voids, especially around hot-water pipes and heaters, and in crevices around sinks and cupboards. Outdoors, nests are often found in soil usually under objects. Odorous house ants are most likely to enter buildings when colonies become very large and natural food and water sources become scarce and when climate conditions are extreme (drought or flood).

Feeding Preferences

When indoors, odorous house ants prefer sweets during most of the warm season, but will eat high-protein foods and greasy meats and cheese as dictated by colony requirements. Outdoors, they feed on honeydew, plant secretions and sometimes seeds and insects.

Transmitted Diseases

Not an important vector of human disease.

Habits

Inside, these ants usually construct their nest in wall voids especially around hot water pipes and heaters, in crevices around sinks, cupboards, etc. These ants prefer sweets but also eat foods with high protein content and grease such as meats and cheese.

Outside, they are often found in the nest of larger ants, in exposed soil, but mostly under objects. Workers feed on insects, seek honeydew and attend such honeydew-excreting insects as plantlice (aphids), scale insects, mealybugs, etc. They are most likely to enter buildings when their honeydew supply is reduced such as during rainy weather or with leaf fall in the autumn.

When workers are alarmed, they run around in an erratic manner with their gasters/abdomens raised up.

Ant Extermination

Our service technician will perform a thorough inspection on the exterior and interior of your structure to locate all problem areas and properly identify the pest you are having. All programs are specially designed to target the pest that is infesting your structure.

This information is taken from the NPMA Field Guide to Structural Pests – Authors Eric H. Smith and Richard C. Whitman

Structural Pest Program

Our service technician will perform a thorough inspection on the exterior and interior of your structure to locate all problem areas and properly identify
the pest you are having. All programs are specially designed to target the pest that is infesting your structure.