Can you smell ants? (updated w/ new post)

[AmandaVT]

I was just reading twitter before going to bed and came across this tweet. I googled and am now curious. Can you smell ants?

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by AmandaVT

[Shoeless]

Yes, I can smell them but it's only certain species? I can't smell fire ants, but I can smell the big black ants. I honestly thought the smell was from ant bait/poison, but I guess it's the ants themselves? 

I happen to have a banana about to go south, and yeah, the smell is kind of like that. 

Weird. 

[Selkie]

Yes, I can smell them. It is a unique smell that isn't like anything else that I've ever smelled before.

[Amethyst]

No way! People SMELL ants?!?!!

[Xahm]

Our family has had this conversation several times. We get kitchen ants/sugar ants/malodorous house ants every summer. I can very easily smell them, especially if they get upset by giant hands exterminating them. Some members of my household have agreed to believe that I can but are, I suspect, still skeptical deep down. I've never tried to smell fire ants so I don't know if I could. To be honest, I've never TRIED to smell any ants, but when they are invading, it's pretty obvious.

[Selkie]

I've been thinking about it and the closest thing I can compare it to is a gross dirty feet smell.

 

[Ailaena]

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one?  How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside?  Can you sniff out a nest?  (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry)

I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

Edited December 20, 2021 by Ailaena

[Katy]

I put other because some kinds smell strongly, others only smell if you smash them. 

[Frances]

6 minutes ago, Ailaena said:

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one?  How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside?  Can you sniff out a nest?  (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry)

I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

I don’t think I can smell all species. But often when one is crawling in me and I kill it, I can smell it. It has a very strong chemical smell. 

[Katy]

9 minutes ago, Ailaena said:

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one?  How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside?  Can you sniff out a nest?  (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry)

I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

Idk, within a few feet if there’s a bunch of them.

They have an acidic/wet dirt/metallic kind of smell. I’ve never paid enough attention to know if they’re different or stronger when eating an apple core or dead grasshopper vs when they’re being killed. 
 

eta: having a strong sense of smell is the worst superpower.  Other things I can smell:

-Boxwood smells like cat pee on hot days

-Immunity blends of essential oils not only smell like metallic cat pee, they induce a migraine immediately. Several people have told me to most people they smell like currents.

-In nursing, different diseases have distinct smells. C-Diff is the worst smell ever. Gangrene or other skin infections aren’t wonderful either. Diarrhea from someone with colon cancer is also terrible. Someone dying of cancer frequently smells like Easter Lilies in the 2-36 hours before death. Certain kinds of laxatives have distinct smells too. 

-My own pee smells drastically different based on what I’ve been eating, but I’ve never smelled a difference from eating asparagus. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Katy

[Kalmia]

The yellow citronella ants smell like lemons. I have a very clear memory of our class coming across some under a rock in field biology class and everyone taking a whiff.

 

[sassenach]

Wow, this is nuts. Never have I ever been able to smell ants (and I grew up in a house that was non-stop invaded by them).

[Annie G]

I’ve never heard that anyone can smell ants! However, I was surprised a while back when I found out not everyone can hear a light bulb filament vibrating just before it goes out.  I guess we each have different superpowers. 

[math teacher]

I can smell them, but only certain species. We were looking at a house once, and I told the realtor I could smell ants. She agreed with me and said it was a thing. My dh can't smell them.

[MercyA]

Huh. Never fail to learn something new here. 🙂 

[Forget-Me-Not]

Yes, certain species, especially if they’ve been smashed. It’s formic acid. 

[Stacia]

I am generally sensitive to smells, sounds, etc. But I cannot say I have ever noticed that I could smell an ant.

[Junie]

1 hour ago, Ailaena said:

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one?  How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside?  Can you sniff out a nest?  (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry)

I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

This.

[Junie]

26 minutes ago, Forget-Me-Not said:

Yes, certain species, especially if they’ve been smashed. It’s formic acid. 

Interesting.  I just recently learned that the Portuguese word for ant is formiga.

[easypeasy]

I can't smell a single ant, but I can certainly smell when there are a bunch of them gathered together.

I don't think I'd describe it as a rotting banana, though. More like very dusty, old cardboard with a chemical taint to it.

It had never occurred to me to ask someone if they could, or couldn't. I thought was like "wet dog" smell or something. Everyone can smell it, right?

[prairiewindmomma]

Yes, I can. 
 

I agree with Katy’s descriptions of smells. With re: to medical smells I can also smell when someone has low kidney function. The ammonia smell is strong. I can also usually smell when someone in my household is about to become ill. They just smell off. 

[JustEm]

Some varieties when crushed smell like the inside of a glow stick to me

[Garga]

Only when I’ve smooshed one.

[Katy]

4 hours ago, prairiewindmomma said:

Yes, I can. 
 

I agree with Katy’s descriptions of smells. With re: to medical smells I can also smell when someone has low kidney function. The ammonia smell is strong. I can also usually smell when someone in my household is about to become ill. They just smell off. 

Sometimes that ammonia smell is a sign they’ve been eating too much protein for them. Some people genetically have a reduced ability to break down protein. But otherwise I agree. 

[regentrude]

I have never smelled an ant. But I also have never smooshed one ( at least that I am aware)

[Amethyst]

This is so interesting. My husband is the one in the house who has the good nose. But I have never ever heard him complain of an ant smell - and we do typically get some ants inside in the summer. Maybe we just have unsmelly ants up here in the northeast??

[math teacher]

Answering a couple questions:

The smell is just in the air-you don't have to get down on the ground to smell it. Neither do you have to smash one. However, I have smelled one when I smashed it.

[TomMr]

41 minutes ago, math teacher said:

Answering a couple questions:

The smell is just in the air-you don't have to get down on the ground to smell it. Neither do you have to smash one. However, I have smelled one when I smashed it.

Thanks for this explanation! Because firstly I thought 'People smell ants?Why?' But, if the smell is in the air, then everything is clear. 
I've never felt the smell of ants, maybe it's because I've never thought about it.

[EKS]

Their eggs smell particularly strong (they try to build a nest every year in our mailbox).  I always thought it was formic acid. 

[73349]

I can't, no. IDK how many or which of the thousands of species of ants some people can smell, but I can't smell the ones that live around here.

[AmandaVT]

17 hours ago, Ailaena said:

So do you have to like, get down on them to smell them or is a scent in the air? You can tell if they’re distressed? Can you smell just one?  How many before you smell them? Do you smell them outside?  Can you sniff out a nest?  (Ive been reading Perfume by Patrick süskind, sorry)

I’ve never tried smelling ants and now it’s winter and there are no ants and I’m annoyed because I’ll forget by summer 😭😭

I just put a reminder in my calendar to bump this post in 6 months. We can all test it out. I think I'm a no though because I am not a good smeller on a good day and I'm guessing I would have noticed before now.

[EKS]

7 hours ago, regentrude said:

I have never smelled an ant. But I also have never smooshed one ( at least that I am aware)

For some reason this astounds me!  

[regentrude]

13 minutes ago, EKS said:

For some reason this astounds me!  

Why? If they're on me, I brush them off. If they're on the floor, if it's the little ones, I sweep them onto the dustpan or wipe with a moist cloth and drop them outside. The large ones ( there's usually only one or two at a time) , I pick up in the folds of a cloth dish towel and shake them out outside. 

We don't kill any bugs in the house. Spiders get removed with the glass/postcard method.

Edited December 20, 2021 by regentrude

[GailV]

A few months ago dd mentioned that she just recently realized not everyone can smell ants. 

And that was the first time I heard of anyone smelling ants. I tend to be really weird about smells and am quite grateful that apparently I don't smell this one.  I'm one of those people currently loving KN95 masks because I'm no longer bothered by perfumes or whatnot when I'm wearing one.

[Ceilingfan]

I can smell smooshed ants. I can also smell when someone is sick (on their breath), regardless of the type of sick - I think it must be antibodies

[EKS]

2 hours ago, regentrude said:

Why? 

That's why I said "for some reason.". I have no clue!

[LMD]

I never in my life considered the possibility that people might be able to smell ants...

We have many kinds of ants everywhere (outside) here, and I have never heard anyone, ever, mention they can smell them! 

[Ausmumof3]

Absolutely though mostly when they’re squashed. I can’t believe there’s people that can’t! Now I want to start a whole series of these.  What about millipedes?

[Ausmumof3]

13 hours ago, Ceilingfan said:

I can smell smooshed ants. I can also smell when someone is sick (on their breath), regardless of the type of sick - I think it must be antibodies

Yes I can smell when one of my kids is getting a cold.

[lauraw4321]

2 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Yes I can smell when one of my kids is getting a cold.

I can smell strep throat. Not a regular cold though. 

[Terabith]

I voted no, but I can smell certain species of squashed ants if I am very close by.  

[EKS]

3 hours ago, lauraw4321 said:

I can smell strep throat. Not a regular cold though. 

When my father was like 8 years old, some kid on the schoolyard came up to him and said "you smell like measles."  And sure enough, he came down with measles the next day!

[SKL]

Maybe.  I never really thought about it.

I think it's more likely that I can smell the chemicals people use to get rid of pests, including ants.

[AmandaVT]

I spent WAY too long this morning trying to remember why I had this on my calendar for today: 

 

After being slightly crabby with my cryptic former self, I finally thought to search my forum topics and found this thread! 

My update - it's summer and I still can't smell ants. Although, knock on wood, we haven't had many at all yet this year either.