The Odorous House Ant.
Your worst nightmare. You wake up one morning and stroll into the kitchen in a sleepy stupor. You open the cabinet to reach for the honey to discover with horror a seething black mass of small, writhing ants. Welcome to spring!
With recent questions raised from the community with regards to distinguishing Odorous House ants from similar ant species, I created the following document:
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8 responses so far ↓
1 mmiller // Mar 29, 2007 at 9:18 am
Awesome! Thanks!
2 CapitolGirl // Apr 2, 2007 at 8:57 am
I have experienced this “moving mass” of ants firsthand. Definitely NOT a pleasant thing to wake up to!
Thanks for such an informative blog!
3 Mike_in_Arlington // Apr 9, 2007 at 7:58 am
I seem to have odorous house ants in my bathroom. Not a thriving mass of them, just 8 or 10 at a time, coming and going around the bathtub and tiles in the bathtub/shower area (but only one or two that I’ve noticed down on the floor).
They seem to be coming out the wall around the faucet, the knob to control the water and at times, almost as if they are coming out of the drain. Does that seem possible/feasible? Am surprised by their persistance and their lack of interest in bait (have tried Terro).
4 Miranda // Apr 9, 2007 at 9:26 am
Hi Mike,
Thanks for taking the time to post…
Although it’s fairly unlikely that they (ants) are emerging directly from the drain itself, it’s more plausible that an active colony is nesting within in a nearby wall void. It’s also possible that scout ants are foraging the micro particles of remnant toothpaste and other "debris" within the drain and around the faucet.
Terro is a good product for over-the counter purchase, but it may not be the "right" bait for your ants. Workers in a colony are finicky eaters. They may feed on carbohydrate based baits at certain times of the year and proteins at other times. Altogether they may feed with random certainty and this is why there are many baiting materials for particular species of ants. You could certainly try other over-the-counter baiting materials to establish a feeding pattern, but this may result in months of prolonged activity.
Feel free to take this offline and perhaps myself, or one of my colleagues, could properly ID the species. msherman at americanpest dot net
5 Greg // Apr 9, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Hi Mike,
I have to second what Miranda stated. Odorous house ants can be tough because they can have multiple queens and have the ability to nest within wall voids, such as the one you described being behind the water control knobs.
Baits work well…when the ants actually feed on those. Baiting can take months of patience and persistence. In addition, I would recommend that you inspect the outside of your property to look for any ant trails going up the building; they will often enter from an exterior source where they often live in shallow pockets underneath splash blocks, rocks, logs, and similar items. Happy hunting!
Greg
6 Mike_in_Arlington // Apr 9, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Thanks for the advice guys. I just shot you a (rather lengthy) email, Miranda.
I live in Colonial Village in Arlington, and American Pest is actually the condo association’s/management company’s exterminator. Unfortunately, I just missed the routine visit (it was last week), so I’ve got a specific appointment for my apartment with your company on Wednesday.
7 Mike_in_Arlington // Apr 10, 2007 at 10:04 am
Hey guys - to follow up on the postings from yesterday and the email I sent to Miranda, what can be done in the near-term? Simply put, I’m totally grossed out by my bathroom right now, especially after coming home last night to find ants crawling all over the ceiling, tons of them in the bathtub, etc. I’m nervous they will spread to the rest of the house, get into my furniture or clothes, etc. I’m a renter, and am hoping to move in the near future - I don’t want to bring these unwanted guests with me. Is there anything taht will address both the immediate problem and the long-term need to eliminate the nest?
8 Greg // Apr 12, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Hi Mike,
It’s extremely unlikely that you’ll transport the ants with you. For those that you see, I would recommend vacuuming those up or lightly spray them with a household cleanser and wipe them up. I would strongly recommend against using an aerosol bug spray because you could cause more problems.
Greg
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