As people are spending more time around their homes during the concerns of COVID-19, they may be more likely to notice small ants crawling in and around their houses. Now is the perfect time to do something about it.
There are approximately 200 species of ants in South Carolina. Most are native and most are good guys (or I should say good gals). However, there is one native species that can go from being benign to a pest when provoked by humans. This is the odorous house ant, Tapinoma sessile.
As their name suggests, odorous house ant is, well, odorous and can be comfortable living around your home. These 1/8-inch-long brown to black ants have been described as smelling like rotten-coconuts or suntan lotion when crushed. In natural settings, their nest size tends to be small with a single queen. For example, in a forest, an entire nest may be in a single acorn. In urban areas, nests tend to be very large with thousands or even millions of workers and many queens.
No one knows exactly why odorous house ants can explode in number in urban and suburban areas, but entomologist, Dr. Grzegorz Buczkowski from Purdue University has a theory. In a study, Dr. Buczkowski monitored odorous house ants in a forested area that was later cleared for a home. Before construction began, there were 20 species of ants on the site; after construction, there were 4 species with the odorous house ant the dominant group. The reason for the change was probably due to the loss of biodiversity. Many insects are adversely impacted by urbanization, but species like odorous house ants can thrive. Urbanization reduces competition for odorous house ants, and urban structures may increase potential nesting sites.
The spring is a good time to control odorous
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