Odorous House Ant
Tapinoma Sessile
- Color: Black, dark brown
- Worker size: 2.4-3.2 millimetres
- Colony size: a few hundred in natural settings, up to millions in supercolonies
- Queen: 3.75-4.3 inch, polygyne,
Introduction
Odorous House ants are a pretty smelly ant. They are monomorphic, so their workers are about 2.4-3.2 mm long. These ants are black and dark brown. Odorous House ant queens are larger, 3.75-4.3 mm long. These ants usually nest under stones, mulch, debris, logs, and other things as well. Indoors, they nest in walls and under floors. Odorous House ants also move nests, which is a very interesting phenomenon.
Unique Traits
Imitation Skunk
This ant species has a very unique defence mechanism. When crushed or threatened, they release a smell similar to rotten coconuts and blue cheese. One of the main components of that smell is 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, which is one of the chemicals that makes blue cheese smell like blue cheese. These chemicals are called methyl ketones. Rotten coconuts also have that same chemical!
Defences
These ants release a smell described as “rotted coconuts” when crushed. They also attack individually, and when an ant is attacking a foe, the other ants tend to run away from the scene due to alarm pheromones. If intruders invade the nest, they tend to run around erratically and lift their abdomens in the air. Interestingly, in natural habitats, T. sessile is a peaceful monogyne colony, while in urban habitats, they are polygyne and polydomous and are aggressive towards other ant species.
Habitat & Diet
This species of ants love insects, meat, and sugary foods. They like honeydew harvested from sap-sucking insects. These ants forage both during the day and night. They closely follow scent trails made by their fellow colony members. They are native to North America.
Sources:
- https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tapinoma_sessile/#physical_description
- https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/encyclopedia/odorous-house-ant#:~:text=Life%20cycle%20of%20odorous%20house,such%20as%20aphids%20and%20mealybugs.
- https://www.iflscience.com/crushed-ants-smell-blue-cheese-and-pi-coladas-gone-bad-28719?utm_source=chatgpt.com
- https://antmaps.org/?mode=species&species=Tapinoma.sessile
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwRNMcDvUEM
- https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Tapinoma_sessile/#:~:text=Ants%20of%20genus%20Tapinoma%20are,and%20a%20slightly%20arched%20body.
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-35654-y#:~:text=The%20odorous%20house%20ant%2C%20Tapinoma%20sessile%20(Say%2C%201836),native%2C%20supercolonial%20population%20of%20T.