| Appearance |
 Brown;
about 1/8 inch
long. |
| Habitat |
|
Outdoors house ants nest in soil,
often under objects
such as loose bark, firewood or lumber. Indoors they nest in wall
voids,
especially around hot-water pipes and heaters, and in crevices around
sinks and
cupboards. This species gets its name from the strong, rotten
coconut-like
smell it gives off when crushed. Odorous house ants may develop huge
colonies
containing up to 100,000 ants with many queens, making
professional ant control imperative. They are not aggressive towards other colonies,
so multiple nests may be located within one structure. |
| Diet |
|
Prefer to feed outdoors on organic materials. When indoors,
odorous house ants prefer sweets during most of the warm season,
especially melon, but will also eat high-protein foods, greasy
meats and cheeses.
|
| Control |
|
They key to odorous house ant
control is locating the colonies and subcolonies and treating
them directly. Colonies can be difficult to locate because they commonly nest
in crawl spaces and wall voids. Regular inspections and service
are necessary to find
and treat
new colonies as they move from neighboring properties. Eliminating
standing
water and removing tree limbs and other debris from your yard should
help with
odorous house ant control. |
|
