You might accidentally squish an ant or find a bad ant colony in your house that smells like nail polish. But why do ants smell like nail polish?
Ants smell like nail polish when they squish, die, or even live in a colony when they release pheromones that contain Penicillium and Formic acid, to signal a threatened situation or general communication among nest mates.
Having a smell in an ant’s pheromone gives it some important benefits for its life. But every ant does not smell like nail polish. There are different kinds of odors specified for different species. Bear with me, I will tell you all of those in this article.
Why do ants smell?
![Why Do Ants Smell Like Nail Polish? 2 why do ants smell like nail polish? Here are the reasons](https://anttalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Why-do-ants-smell.jpg)
As I mentioned there are several reasons and benefits why ants have scents when they are squished, die, or even just communicate.
- To be protected from the predators
This is a widely used technique by different animal kingdoms. When a predator comes to attack the ant, it will use its nail polish kind of odor against the enemy. It will make the prey is something unattractive. Especially, ant species that are unable to sting or bite other animals have a stronger and hard-to-tolerate odor. - To ask for nest mates’ help
When other ants get into trouble they can release their pheromones that emit a strong smell which indicates its following ants to get into the action and help him. Usually, ants emit that kind of smelling pheromones when they are shocked by electricity. Imported red ants use this technique quite often when they get in trouble. - To find the nests
Apart from safety reasons, some ant species such as black ants keep emitting pheromones which also smell bad to human senses in order to indicate the location of their colony for the worker ants who go for food.
Therefore, they can follow the pheromones and smell trails to find their way back to the nest easily.
Here’s the thing.
Ants use their abdomen when they are releasing these hard-smelling chemicals. So, sometimes you might not feel the smell of some ants even though you squish their head to death.
Which ants smell like nail polish?
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Among several different ant species that release odor, there are specific ant species that smell like nail polish, and similar odors like paint and ink.
The ant species called Odorous ants which are also known as ‘Tapinoma Sessile’ smell like nail polish. Some people also identify them as they are smelling like ink or paint when they were squished.
Odorous ants are also known as stink ants or coconut ants. They are a tiny ant variety that is growing to 1.5 – 3 mm in length, and they will be black or brown in color.
Meanwhile, there are biological experts who conflict about the odor that odorous ants release. They argue that the smell is similar to rotten coconut and blue cheese.
Nevertheless, Dr. Clint Penick found that there are both Formic acid and Penicillium contained in the pheromones released by odorous ants. On the other hand, the Penicillium fungus will grow in rotting coconuts. Therefore, it is fair enough to say odorous ants smell like rotten coconuts.
The reason they are called odorous ants is they are the most common kind of ant that releases a sensible smell.
What are the other kinds of ants that smell?
Apart from the odorous ants that smell like nail polish, there are some other kinds of ants that smell differently when they release chemicals in different situations.
Those ant species use pheromones and chemicals when they want the predators to be unattracted towards them, when they need help from their nest mates, etc.
Here are some ant species that smell.
Citronella ants aka Big yellow ants and Small yellow ants
![Why Do Ants Smell Like Nail Polish? 4 citronella ant is a variety that not smell like nail polish. instead smell like citronella](https://anttalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/citronella-ants.jpg)
As same as the name sounds, this particular ant variety use an odor pretty similar to citronella oil. And that smell works perfectly in acting unattractive to their enemies.
Citronella is a widely used pesticide that many insects hate. Hence, once these citronella ants are threatened by an attack, they use this alarm chemical signal which attracts other workers and distracts the predators.
Note: Citronella ants are the same variety that is also known as smelling like lemon.
Trap-Jaw ants
Have you seen an ant that smells like chocolate? If you have seen a Trap-Jaw ant before, you really have. But still, this smell and the taste would be distasteful!
But the specialty in this particular ant is, that they are emitting chemicals from an element that has been located on their head. They use this alarm signal as an indicator of danger to other colleagues.
In contrast to the majority of ants, you may have to crush the head out of a Trap-Jaw ant if you really want to taste the chocolate aroma it produces.
Wood ants ( Carpenter ants )
![Why Do Ants Smell Like Nail Polish? 5 carpenter ants do not smell like nail polish. They smell like Formic acid](https://anttalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/carpenter-ant.jpg)
Many kinds of wood ants, especially carpenter ants are using formic acid aroma as their alarm signal.
According to the thoughts of Biologists, wood ants have naturally acquired a strong acidic pheromone alarm especially because they have a less poisoned sting.
Clint Pennick, the assistant ecology professor at Kennesaw State University has stated this.
“They can stop a bear with formic acid if they all come together and spray. But one on their own is just enough to give you a slight little wisp of vinegar.”
Clint Pennick
However, some people can not smell the formic acid aroma released from wood ants because they are unable to smell Formic acid.
Which ants do not have a smell?
Among over 13,000 species of ants, a majority of the varieties are having a sting for their safety. Some portions of the total have only odorous chemicals for their self-defense. At the same time, there are mighty ant species that have both sting and chemical alarms that release odorous pheromones.
Whether they have a sting or not, there are some commonly seen ants that don’t have a specific smell for self-defense. Here are some of them.
- Black ants
These tiny black ants do not have an odor to work as an alarm signal when they are in danger. It made me surprised because they neither have a sting nor chemical odor to protect themselves from dangerous scenarios. - Red ants
It is kind of fair that red ants do not have a smell when they are squished, dead, or threatened. Because they have a hard sting that can even make humans swollen when they bite.
How to get rid of all odorous ants and ants smell like nail polish?
![Why Do Ants Smell Like Nail Polish? 6 preserve your food to prevent ants that smell like nail polish](https://anttalks.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/how-to-prevent-ants-smell-like-nail-polish.jpg)
Odorous ants can be commonly found in your home if you leave some food alone. Especially if it is sweet in taste.
Because of the tiny size of these ants that smell like nail polish, they can easily build up and establish a colony inside your house.
Odorous ants have high efficient workers who have a great sense and are conscious of their food sources. Once a worker finds a food source they draw their invisible smell trail and let their fellows follow him.
According to western exterminator, odorous ants are really hard to kill. They have seen injured ants live, and work for the colony despiting the pain, numerous times. An odorous ant queen can keep laying eggs even though her abdomen has been crushed.
These smelling ants are capable of overwintering in the nests. So they will emerge in the summer and spring and do the searching for food.
Even though you need some extra effort to get rid of odorous ants that smell like nail polish, remember it is still possible to DIY.
Here are some tips that might help you to get rid of ants that smell like nail polish, odorous ants.
- Seal the cracks in your house
Odorous ants are clever buddies that make their colony with multiple different entry holes. Therefore they can scale up their colony for a substantial area and be infestive way quicker than you think.
On top of that, you need to find and destroy the colonies, as well as seal up all the cracks in your house, which can use as entries for colonies of these ants smell like nail polish. - Use regular ant-repelling remedies
Even though odorous ants are hard to kill, you can try regular ant-repelling remedies on them. You can repel or kill these coconut ants with some extra effort. Try using borax, vinegar, salt, and baking powder spray on them. - Preserve your food
Odorous ants are highly attracted to sugar and sweet food, bakery items, and fruits. Don’t leave the food outside without capping it up. Prevention is better than cure!