PestAway Pest Control Blog
Domestic pest problems and Odorous Ant Control
Odorous ants (or odorous house ants) are brown to dark brown in colour, small and about two to three millimetres long. They have one small flattened node on pedicel which is more or less hidden by their abdomen. Like other ants, odorous ants live in large colonies. Odorous ants have distinct odour similar to rancid butter when crushed. Each colony can potentially contain two or more queens and more than ten thousand workers. Female odorous ant lays one egg per day. Worker and female odorous ants are able to live for several years.
Odorous ants are opportunists and may nest both indoors and outdoors. Generally they nest within buildings in walls and crevices, beneath the floor, under stoves, near heaters water pipes, and cupboards, under carpets, behind panelling, or in subfloor voids. They seldom swarm, however, they are most likely to invade buildings at the time of rainy weather. They generally travel in trails, foraging constantly during day and night inside houses. Consequently, they can quite easily contaminate food supplies. Although they do not sting or bite, they can be very annoying and become frequent domestic pests travelling indoors in very large numbers.
Odorous ants eat almost all types of household food. They prefer sweets but will eat meat, breadcrumbs, honeydew melons or honeydew from aphids and mealybugs, sugary foods, dairy products, pastries, cooked or raw vegetables, fruit juices and other similar sweet items and foods. Particularly, they may move and infest indoors in autumn seeking sweet food. Occasionally they attack proteins, such as dog or cat food, chips, or chicken. Odorous ants can quite easily gain access to houses, offices and buildings through tiny cracks or gaps in the foundation generally around doors and windows. These areas should be carefully inspected and potential entry points need to be sealed up by caulk or other exclusion material to prevent their infestation. Additionally, they can be found around kitchen sink or garbage cans. Good sanitation practices will help odorous ants control.
For a successful odorous ant control, a thorough inspection must be performed prior to ant treatment to locate as many trails of ants as possible. They can be easily identified by their unusual odour when crushed (odour similar to rancid butter). To control these nuisance pests, spraying could only be effective when all their nests are found, inspected and sprayed. Click here to know more about non-chemical and chemical ant control methods.
Posted by PestAway Australia on 7th January, 2013 | Comments
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