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Solving ant problems in King and Snohomish Counties

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Odorous House Ants

   
     

Odorous House are by far, the most common little black ant found indoors in our area.  There are at least two species.  They both appear to be dark brown to black.  One species is about an 1/8th of an inch and one is about half that size, or a little longer than a single penny is thick. Definitely a 'Tiny' black ant.

Each nest of Odorous House Ants may contain multiple queens and the nests in your house and yard may be related to the nests in your neighbors. In fact, they may be part of a super colony that covers large residential areas, several city blocks and more.

Odorous House Ants are usually in a home for a long time before being noticed.  When noticed they are usually spotted in the early spring. 

Interior activity usually stops a few weeks later when their preferred food sources emerge on the exterior, aphids and other sources.

They are usually back in the home again following scent trails they established earlier sometime after control materials start breaking down - they just aren't showing up where you can see them.

  

OHA

Odorous House Ants.  So called because when you smash them they smell bad, like urine (some people call them piss ants.)  However, many types of ants smell bad when you smash them.

Sometimes referred to as Sugar Ants as they do readily feed on sugar, pop, syrup, and other sweets.

     

Sugar ants

   

While Odorous House Ants are also often referred to as Sugar Ants, they are sometimes referred to as:  Grease Ants, House Ants, Kitchen Ants, Piss Ants, Sweet Ants, Odorous Ants,  and Odiferous Ants.

These are the ants that seem to appear out of nowhere when you leave out a slurpee cup, or a few cake crumbs are scattered on the floor.  Their fondness for sweets gives them their most common nickname.  They will sometimes switch off of sweets if the colony needs more protein. Sometimes they only seem to be after water from your dishwasher.

 

Greatly enlarged picture of a Sugar Ant (OHA)

     

Odorous House Ant damage

    

Odorous House Ants are not thought of as a wood destroying ant, although they will sometimes mine moisture damaged or rotten wood.  If your ants seem to walk around close to or at the top of walls, you may have Velvety Tree Ants which are about the same size and color and do cause damage, there is also a species of Carpenter Ant that is quite small and Carpenter Ants are known for the damage they are capable of.

   
     

Odorous House ant prevention

    

As a normal part of our service for customers we are always pointing out conditions which make their homes more attractive to Odorous House ants, such things as clogged gutters, siding in touch with the ground, and too much vegetation against the structure.  To have us inspect your home for more steps you can take to prevent these pests, call and schedule an appointment today. These steps will help you get rid of Odorous House ants, or rid of sugar ants as they are sometimes called, and help our control materials to be as effective as possible. Also, see ANT PREVENTION for more info.

   
     

Odorous House ant control

   

Many people try to tackle this problem with over the counter baits and sprays prior to calling us.  The problem is that over the counter baits are usually too strong, causing a large initial die off which signals a stop feeding behavior from the ants.

Over the counter sprays are worse, the chemical compounds in over the counter sprays are repellant.  They kill some ants but they chase the rest away and often splinter nests.  Instead of having three or four queens nesting together you could very well have three or four separate nests in different areas of your home.

In both instances, you may stop seeing the ants, but that does not mean they are no longer in your home.

We use a combination of slow acting baits placed in cracks and crevices the ants can get to, but that are safe from children and pets.  Foraging ants pass these materials back into the colony killing other workers and egg layers. We combine these very effective baits with super low toxicity, no odor, no fume, non repellant sprays that the ants cannot sense. 

Due to their habit of re-infesting, and the fact that your ants may be part of a much larger super colony, we often recommend follow-up services to prevent your home from being re-infested from this pest.