Dersgniw
Disco Crunchin
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join:2001-08-10
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| Odorous house ant
I'm finding random ants in my house... not swarming, not near food, just random on a wall here and there and in the bathroom. I'm on the shore of Long Island.
When I crush them, I smell varnish or nail polish remover. I've read that the odorous house ant smells like rotten coconut, but I don't actually know what rotten coconut smells like. Would these be this type of ant or could they a different ant that is drinking varnish somewhere?
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bjbdbest
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join:2003-03-23
OuttaMyMind
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| Here's some info that might help rid whichever they are:
There are basically two types of ant bait, and two means of delivering that bait. For sugar ants (pavement ants), or the common house ant, generally use a sweet-based ant bait (usually a syrup) with a chemical like Borax, or boric acid. Boric acid is a naturally occuring mineral mined in California, and is the most common ingredient in ant baits used to control house ants like the Pharaoh ant, the pavement ant, the odorous house ant, and others. Terro products are a good example of Borax based ant control.
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA | reply to Dersgniw
I've had them before, and they can be exceedingly difficult to get rid of without a full house fumigation. They're fairly small. |
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DataDoc
My avatar looks like me, if I was 2D.
Premium
join:2000-05-14
Greenville, NC | reply to Dersgniw
What you smell is probably formic acid, (produced in varying quantities for protection by different species).
If an ant drank varnish, just like you, they'd die.  |
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NanDog
The Pup Was Female, I'M Not
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join:2003-12-28
Tacoma, WA
 ·Rainier Connect fr..
| reply to Dersgniw
Hmmm....interesting question. Can't say I've ever noticed any such thing from our Pacific Northwest ants.
Googling "crushed ant smell" found this: »www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mantsmell.html
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madylarian
The curmudgeonly
Premium
join:2002-01-03
Parkville, MD
| reply to aurgathor
said by aurgathor  :I've had them before, and they can be exceedingly difficult to get rid of without a full house fumigation. They're fairly small. We've been fighting them for years. They are usually found around water, so we most often see them in the bathroom and kitchen. We've has to contract with an exterminator who comes around on a regular basis. They spray around the entire outside perimeter of the house several times a year as you have to try to keep the ants from getting in. They also use enclosed poison baits inside. We still might see the occasional ant but at least there are no more swarms.
mady
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA
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| said by madylarian : They spray around the entire outside perimeter of the house several times a year as you have to try to keep the ants from getting in. They also use enclosed poison baits inside. We still might see the occasional ant but at least there are no more swarms. Spraying the perimeter is utterly useless if they're already resident in the house. As for baits, they don't work too well with well established odorous ant colonies, unless you can pinpoint all their locations. And when you "see the occasional ant", that's most likely just the tip of the iceberg.
I thought they were mostly gone until I did some work on my ceiling one day...  |
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madylarian
The curmudgeonly
Premium
join:2002-01-03
Parkville, MD
| said by aurgathor :Spraying the perimeter is utterly useless if they're already resident in the house. As for baits, they don't work too well with well established odorous ant colonies, unless you can pinpoint all their locations. And when you "see the occasional ant", that's most likely just the tip of the iceberg. I thought they were mostly gone until I did some work on my ceiling one day... Well, it's worked for me. Since we started doing both treatments I have not had the ant trails all over my kitchen counters and basement floors that I used to have. I think what we have are Pharoh/ferol/whateverthey'recalled ants. Still, I know it's an ongoing battle. They may still be in the house but as long as I don't see them....I can live with that.
mady
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Honi soit qui mal y pense |
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aurgathor
join:2002-12-01
Lynnwood, WA | Pharaoh's are easier to deal with. |
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Rxdoxx
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join:2000-11-03
Middle River, MD
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Washington & Balti..
| reply to Dersgniw
No help from me, just passing on some info/experience.
Two years ago, had a landscaper do some work, and she put down the 'cloth' weed block in the 2 flower beds that cover the front of the house (broken by concrete steps).
Last year saw termite swarmers and got treated. When the guy was trenching around the house for chemical, he pulled back a couple of foot section of the weedblock and it was a carpet of ants under it! I'd guess he showed me a 12 sqft area and it was solid ants.
There was a significant ant presence in the house, and I had been treating the hosta bed that runs along the side of the house (with the kitchen window) figuring the problem was there. May have been there also, and probably was part of the problem, but nothing like the ideal living conditions that were created for them along the front of the house.
Got most of the weedblock up last year, and the problem decreased considerably.
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madylarian
The curmudgeonly
Premium
join:2002-01-03
Parkville, MD
| We were told not to put large planters right on the ground, but rather to sit them up on bricks so they would not provide cover for the ant colonies. Unfortunately, Rx, they seem to be endemic in our part of the world.
mady
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Honi soit qui mal y pense |
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