Odorous house ant is a 1-star species card from the Industrial Age. Odorous house ants smell like rotten coconut when squashed.
Bonus by grade
| Grade | Copies needed | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | +7% Food production |
| Uncommon | 2 | +12.6% Food production |
| Rare | 5 | +21% Food production |
| Epic | 10 | +31.5% Food production |
| Legendary | 20 | +49% Food production |
Duplicates raise the grade: Uncommon at 2, Rare at 5, Epic at 10, Legendary at 20.
Codex
- Common: Tapinoma sessile is native to North America.
- Uncommon: The smell comes from chemicals they use for defence.
- Rare: They're common kitchen visitors after rain.
- Epic: Colonies can have many queens and move house quickly.
- Legendary: They love sweet foods and honeydew.
Field notes are reviewed regularly. Spot something wrong? Tell us.
Field guide
| Size | Workers about 2.4–3.3 mm long, all much the same size |
| Colony | Usually about 2,000–10,000 workers; some are smaller or larger |
| Queens | Often several queens, but some nests have just one |
| Nest | Open soil, under stones and logs, in dead wood, and inside buildings |
| Diet | Honeydew, sugary foods, dead insects, meat and dairy |
| Defence | No sting; swarms out and releases an alarm scent |
| Active | Day and night, and still foraging in cooler weather |
| Lifespan | Not well known |
| Where it lives | Canada, the United States and Mexico, from sea level to about 3,200 m |
Did you know?
- Nests are moved often, sometimes into houses when the weather turns.
- They tend aphids, scale insects and mealybugs for their sugary honeydew.
- They are hostile to the invasive Argentine ant but not to other odorous house ant colonies.
Sources: antwiki.org, ipm.ucanr.edu, extension.psu.edu
Codex sets
- Ants of the machine ages: Bullet ant, Argentine ant, Pharaoh ant, Yellow crazy ant, Odorous house ant, Ghost ant, Mangrove ant, Spider ant, European fire ant, Red harvester ant, Longhorn crazy ant, Little fire ant, Exploding ant, Acacia ant, Azteca ant, Indian jumping ant
Queen affinity
- Black garden ant: ×1 chance
- Meat ant: ×0.5 chance
- Bull ant: ×0.5 chance