Family Structure
- Queens can lay as many as 20-30 eggs in single day; usually lay only 1-2 (or less) eggs per day on average over long periods of time
- Egg to adult: 34–38 days
- Queens and male ants only produced in larger colonies
- Colonies range in size from 100 to 10,000
- Several queens (as many as 200 in some instances)
Habitat
- Indoors: colonize near heat sources or in insulation
- In hot and dry situations: nests have been found in house plants and even in the lids of toilets
- Outdoors: colonize under rocks and exposed soil
- Form colonies virtually anywhere, in a variety of conditions
Diet
- Scavengers/predators
- Will eat most household foods – especially those that contain sugar – as well as other insects.
- Collect honeydew to feed on from aphids, scale insects, and membracids
Characteristics
- Can trail extensive distances (though their trails are rarely longer than 50 feet)
- Usually travel along landscape edges
- More likely to invade homes after rain (which washes away the honeydew they collect)
- Highly tolerant of other ants
- Compound nests consisting of multiple ant species have been observed
- Non-aggressive
Contact Us
Contact us for help with a problem with Odorous House Ants. You may also call either our Central Coast office or our Ventura County office.