So you have ants in your house. You want to get rid of them, but you don’t know how. What can you do? There is only one surefire solution: Love your house ants.

If you live in a North American cool temperate region, you are blessed by a community of ants that are fairly innocuous. The fire ant has not yet reached so far north, and the bullet ant is but a distant fairy tale. The worst pain these friendly “pests” inflict on their human neighbors tends to be crawling on skin and maybe a little nip here or there.

Consider Camponotus pennsylvanicus, a common species of carpenter ant. This friendly giant has no sting, and really just wants to be left alone. Plus, it’s the first North American ant to have been scientifically described. You like North America, right?

cpennsylvanicus
Photograph by Alex Wild

Consider Tapinoma sessile, the odorous house ant. This ant smells like bleu cheese when you crush it. No sting, only cheese. You like cheese, right?

tsessile
Photograph by Alex Wild

Consider Tetramorium “species E”, the pavement ant. These little gals are so widespread along the pavement in cities and suburbs that they are often the first ants that young children ever encounter. They are nature’s way of promoting scientific discovery. You like science education, right?

tspeciese
Photograph by Alex Wild

You live among ecological wonders and six-legged bleu cheese machines. So the next time you see an ant inside your home, don’t pick up a shoe or bring out the broom. Bend a knee and marvel at the tiny life that has marched along the face of the Earth for millions of years and now deigns to grace your home.

Posted in

16 responses to “In Defense of House Ants”

  1. afaithmartin Avatar

    little ants i ignore- let talk about their bigger winged cousins 🙂

    Like

    1. benjamindblanchard Avatar

      Winged ants are actually the reproductives (soon-to-be-queen or male), and are even more harmless than the workers! They’re pretty cool if you look at them closely.

      Like

  2. Mike Schellman Avatar

    I’ve loved ants ever since Steven Johnson’s book “Emergence” introduced me to the work of Deborah Gordon. I’ve recently acquired her books “Ants at Work” and “Ant Encounters”. Now I am also excited about your blog. For the record I like science, I like, North America, and Bleu Cheese. I don’t suppose the odorous house ant also TASTES like bleu cheese – does it?

    Like

    1. benjamindblanchard Avatar

      Sounds like you have an excellent hypothesis to test!

      Like

  3. Logan Morrow Avatar
    Logan Morrow

    So… does that mean Fire Ants will eventually make it further north? I don’t like that. Those things have been after me for 32 years…

    Like

    1. benjamindblanchard Avatar

      Yeah… if the climate keeps warming, it is likely that the invasive fire ant will continue its march northward!

      Like

    2. Jamela Khan Avatar

      Bites from min 3-4 ants can kill me. Not even fire ants. Ants in the garden….no,,,within 10 mins I am all swollen up and can barely breathe. I will never make it to 15 minutes.

      Like

      1. Benjamin Blanchard Avatar

        Hi Jamela, thanks for the comment! Yes, if you are allergic, then ants – like peanuts, watermelons, etc. – can be bad… I’m sorry that you are allergic to ant stings!

        (Also, to be clear, ant /stings/ are what causes allergenic reactions. Ant bites do not inject any chemicals!)

        Like

      2. C.C. Avatar

        I had 2 or 3 ants crawl up my pant leg and bite me on my thigh about 10 times – my long pants had dragged through their hill on a hike. I was woozy. I ended up having to take Benadryl and that drug counteracted the wooziness.

        Like

      3. C.C. Avatar

        So, I guess I was stung by those ants?

        Like

  4. C.C. Avatar

    In Albuquerque we have Fire Ants – have had them for all my life – and I’m almost 60.

    Like

  5. The Daily Ant One-Year Antiversary: In Review – The Daily Ant Avatar

    […] started out one year ago from yesterday as a podunk formicid-friendly online media project with an inaugural post on loving your house ants has grown into a podunk formicid-friendly online media project with 196 published articles. […]

    Like

  6. The Latest Anti-Ant Invention: “Eco-Friendly” Slip-n-Slide Paint – The Daily Ant Avatar

    […] no surprise that we chose to launch this outlet, over two and a half years ago, with a treatise in defense of house ants. Surely no one, by now, is shocked at the freshest antagonistic plot the humans have cooked up: […]

    Like

  7. T.V. Tuesday: Geico – The Daily Ant Avatar

    […] you can stomach it) this Geico advertisement, released early last month, that is predicated on the antiquated concept of an ant […]

    Like

  8. Alan Avatar
    Alan

    I look forward to the smell of bleu cheese through the spring and summer.

    Like

  9. Arthur Kaufman Avatar

    Grreat read thank you

    Like

Leave a reply to Logan Morrow Cancel reply