The Odorous Ant
When crushed, the workers of this species give off an odor which resembles that of rotten coconut, giving them their odd name. There is only one size worker in their colonies; they are usually about 1/8 inch in length. The odorous house ant is dark brown to black in color, has 12 segments in its antennae, no circle of hairs on tip of abdomen, no club on the antennae, one node, and has an uneven thorax when viewed from the side.
This ant lives in a variety of nesting sites, moving constantly to avoid the perils of inclimate weather conditions. Not only will you find huge super colonies, but many satellite colonies located close to the main colony. Odorous House Ants feed on living and dead insects but are particular fond of the sweet honey dew produced by aphids, scales and mealybugs. If found inside structures, these ants will eat many available foods but again prefer to feed on sweets. These ants will forage during the day and the night.
The size of colonies, number of workers, wide variety of food sources and multiple queens per colony make this a formidable foe to eradicate.
Living Spaces
Wall Voids, Window Frames, Door Frames, Landscaping, Clutter/Debris
Diet Choices
Sugars, Honeydew seareted by aphids, pollens, nectars, some grease and proteins
Fun Fact
When crushed they give off a "rotten coconut smell"
How Do We Remove Them?
Once you give McMahon Exterminating a call in Evansville, Indiana we will bring a trained technician out to discover the issue and infestation, identify and develop a unique solution to your problem as every home and infestation is unique as some might require different or more intensive methods depending on the severity and location.
We remove them by discovering where they are nesting to get rid of the nest, if there are multiple nests we will need to further analyze and close off spaces that the ants are entering to help deter them from entering the home.
It is important to remember when dealing with large infestations near the home that one simple treatment will most likely not solve the issue in a lot of cases, instead, we will need to assess and monitor the situation as it evolves because ants might find newer entry points or might be resilient depending on the type of ant we are dealing. With McMahon's C.A.N. initiative and our three easy steps — Canvas the area, Act on those results and Negate re-entry for the pest.
