Odorous house ants found in Neptune, NJ

Recently, i was sent to a home in Neptune, NJ, after receiving a call from a homeowner who wanted us to eliminate an ant infestation in heir garage. I applied an appropriate treatment to the garage area. Whenever I receive a call, with the homeowner’s permission, I like to do a check of the home and property before leaving. Often, we identify pest issues that the homeowner was unaware of, specially when in its early stages. Here, there was a shed on the property, so I took a peak inside. 

As you can see from the video clip, there were trails of odorous house ants.These ants get their name because they release a rotten coconut-like smell when crushed.  These small ants, often confused with pavements ants, are no more than 1/8 of an inch. They regularly forage for food along well-traveled trails. When outdoors they commonly nest under stones, firewood, mulch, or lawn debris, and feed on dead insects and the sweet honeydew produced by plant sap-feeding insects such as aphids and mealybugs. Odorous ants, like all ants, lay down a chemical trail of pheromones between the nest sites and food sources. These trails act like little highways for the foraging ants to follow. As you can see in the video clip, these ants appear to be well-disciplined and travel in an orderly straight line. Pest control technicians often follow these trails to locate the nest and helps us apply the treatment where needed. Here, I applied product to the appropriate areas to rid the shed of these pests.