⭐ Features

The Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile) is notable for emitting a distinct, rotten coconut-like odor when crushed. It is highly adaptable, able to nest in a wide variety of locations, including within human structures. These ants form large, multi-queen colonies, which can split and relocate easily when disturbed. They are known for their erratic, unpredictable foraging trails and their preference for sweet foods, often tending aphids for honeydew. Their colonies can rapidly expand, making them persistent household pests.

📍 Habitat

The most common areas where you can find Odorous House Ants include kitchens, bathrooms, under sinks, around water pipes, inside wall voids, beneath floors, and near food sources. Outdoors, they are often found under rocks, mulch, logs, and in soil near building foundations.

⭐ Features

Pavement ants are known for their distinctive habit of creating small mounds of soil between cracks in pavement and sidewalks. They exhibit complex social behaviors, including organized foraging trails and cooperative food transport. Pavement ants are also notable for their aggressive territorial battles with neighboring colonies, often resulting in large ant confrontations. They have a diverse diet, feeding on a wide range of foods including insects, seeds, and human food scraps. Additionally, pavement ants can establish colonies both outdoors and indoors, often nesting under floors or within walls of buildings.

📍 Habitat

The most common areas where you can find pavement ants are sidewalks, driveways, patios, building foundations, cracks in pavement, and along the edges of concrete slabs. Indoors, they are often found in kitchens, basements, and under floors, especially near heat sources or where food is present.

⭐ Features

Carpenter ants are known for their ability to excavate wood to create intricate nest galleries, which distinguishes them from termites as they do not eat the wood but remove it to build smooth tunnels. They communicate using pheromones and can deploy formic acid as a defense mechanism. Carpenter ants have a well-organized social structure with specialized castes, including workers, soldiers, and a queen. They are also notable for their nocturnal foraging behavior and their ability to establish satellite colonies connected to the main nest.

📍 Habitat

Carpenter ants are most commonly found in moist, decaying, or hollow wood, both outdoors and indoors. Typical areas include tree stumps, logs, firewood piles, wooden decks, and fence posts outside. Indoors, they are often found in wall voids, around windows and door frames, under sinks, in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, and attics, especially where there is water damage or high humidity.

⭐  Features

The Argentine ant is notable for forming supercolonies, where multiple nests cooperate without aggression, creating vast interconnected populations. They communicate using complex chemical signals, allowing efficient coordination and resource sharing. This species is highly adaptable, thriving in diverse environments and outcompeting native ants by monopolizing food sources. Argentine ants also tend to aphids and other insects for honeydew, fostering mutualistic relationships that enhance their survival and spread. Their ability to rapidly relocate nests in response to threats or changes in conditions further contributes to their invasive success.

📍 Habitat

The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is commonly found in urban and suburban areas, especially in homes, gardens, sidewalks, and parks. They are also prevalent in agricultural fields, greenhouses, and along building foundations. These ants prefer moist environments and are often found near water sources, such as irrigation systems, leaky pipes, and potted plants. In natural settings, they can be found under rocks, logs, and leaf litter.