Odorous house ant, Sugar ant, Stink ant, Coconut ant
Tapinoma sessile is a species of small ant that goes by the common names odorous house ant, sugar ant, stink ant, and coconut ant. Their colonies are polydomous (consist of multiple nests) and polygynous (contain multiple reproducing queens). Like many social insects, T. sessile employs complex foraging strategies, allocates food depending on environmental conditions, and engages in competition with other insects.
T. sessile can be found in a huge diversity of habitats, including within houses. They forage mainly for honeydew, which is produced by aphids and scale insects that are guarded and tended by the ants, as well as floral nectar and other sugary foods. They are common household pests and are attracted to sources of water and sweets.
Like most other ants, T. sessile is eusocial. This is characterized by reproductive division of labor, cooperative care of the young, and overlapping generations.
The binomial name Tapinoma sessile was assigned by Thomas Say in 1836.Sessile translates to "sitting" which probably refers to the gaster sitting directly on top of the petiole in the abdomen of the species.The common names "odorous house ant" and "coconut ant" come from the odor the ants produce when crushed, which is very similar to the pungent odor of a rotting coconut, blue cheese, or turpentine.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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OmnivoreAn omnivore is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and ani...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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EusocialNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withT. sessile is a small ant that ranges in color from brown to black, and varies in length from.mw-parser-output.frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output.frac.num,.mw-parser-output.frac.den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output.frac.den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output.sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);clip-path:polygon(0px 0px,0px 0px,0px 0px);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}1⁄16 to 1⁄8 inches (1.5–3.2 mm). When crushed, these ants leave a smell which leads to their nickname "stink ant".
The gaster portion of the abdomen sits directly on top of the petiole in the abdomen of this species, which helps distinguish them from other small, dark, invasive ants.A comparison of the side view of T. sessile (below) and a diagram of the a typical ant body (below) shows how T. sessile’s gaster sits atop its petiole. This leads to a very small petiole and to the gaster being pointed downward. The anal pore then opens ventrally (toward the abdomen) instead of distally. Their antennae have 12 segments.
The queens lay the eggs which incubate between 11–26 days. After hatching, the larval stage lasts between 13–29 days, and the pre-pupal and pupal stages last between 10–24 days.Little is known about the lifespan of the ant, though it has been shown that queens live at least 8 months (and probably much longer), workers at least a few months (and show every indication of living as long as queens), while males appear to live only approximately a week.
T. sessile is native to North America and ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico, but is less common in the desert southwest.
Colonies vary in size from a few hundred to tens of thousands of individuals. Big colonies usually have multiple queens.
The odorous house ant is tough: Injured workers have been observed to continue living and working with little hindrance, some queens with crushed abdomens still lay eggs, and there are documented instances of T. sessile queens surviving without food or water for over two months. They also appear highly tolerant to heat and cold. These ants are difficult to remove from a home after their colony has become well-established.
When offered a choice of food sources, the ants preferred sugar and protein over lipids, and this preference persisted in all seasons. When specific sugar sources were studied the ants preferred sucrose over other sugars, such as fructose or glucose.
It was also found that this ant species practices seasonal polydomy (having multiple colony sites) to have access to multiple food sources. The colony will overwinter in a single nest, and then during spring and summer when resources are more abundant they will form multiple nests. This allows them to better use food sources, that might be spread out. During the winter they will return again to the same nest location. Seasonal polydomy is rather rare, and only found in 10% of all polydomous species. Seasonal polydomy is not found in many ant species, but there are many ant species, including T. sessile, which move within a season: Migration to better forage sites is common.
Seasonal activity patterns of the ants were also studied, and corresponding to the seasonal polydomy, it was observed that the ants displayed the most activity between March and September and displayed almost no activity from October to December. Daily activity patterns were also studied. In March T. sessile foraged during the day, but in April that pattern changed and the ant began to forage during both day and night. During most of the summer, T. sessile shows low levels of activity throughout the day and night.
