Tapinoma sessile FS

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[bg=fbd9bd] Photo from www.wikipedia.com

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[bg=fbd9bd] Taxonomy: Dolichoderinae (Tapinoma) Colony type:Polygynous (Multiple queens)/Monogynous (One queen) - Dependent on location Queen: Fully Claustral (Though colonies may reproduce by ‘budding’) Color: Jet Black. Some dark brown variations are known. Size: Queen 4-5.5 mm / Workers 2.5-3.5 mm Distribution: US, also as far North as Canada. Nutrition: Honey water, fruits, small insects (Note: These ants do not adapt well to standard foods.) Temperature:Room temperature - 1-2 degrees warmer Hibernation: Not necessary, but advised. Air humidity: Moderate climate Nest building: Natural; sand, soil, loam. Artificial; Pumice, Y-Tong, Plaster, Glass, ect. (Colonies often live under objects and rarely dig very deep into the ground.) Planting: Not Necessary (These ants enjoy farming aphids if given the chance.) Class: Medium

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[bg=fbd9bd] Tapinoma sessile is a very small ant known for it’s odd smell when crushed. They are often called odorous house ants for this reason. Colonies normally have many queens and between 500 and 7,000 workers at any given time. T. sessile queens often lay eggs daily, and aren’t much larger than their workers. These ants use a chemical stored in their gasters for defense, though they are quite soft-bodied and fragile. They normally use their numbers rather than chemical warfare. Tapinoma sessile is a notorious pest in the United States, and they often reside in homes. Though they have relatively large colonies, these ants require little water and room, due to their size. One can fairly easily identify them by crushing a few workers and seeing if they emit a coconut-like odor. I was amazed at how powerful the smell actually is. (Please do not destroy an entire colony in order to feel as if you are in the tropics. They make artificial scents if that is what you are interested in. )

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[bg=fbd9bd] Tapinoma sessile is almost never found with single queens in the NW region and often reproduce by ‘budding’ as well as Nuptial flights. After mating, queens will either return to their parent nest or join up with other queens to found a new colony. Some colonies in other areas do reproduce with normal nuptial flights. Technically, their colonies could go on forever in perfect conditions. Queens are said to only lay a few batches of eggs a year.

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[bg=fbd9bd] Odorous house ants seem to prefer their nests dryer than most. Because of their small size, formicariums will last long, and colonies can get quite large, quickly. T. sessile can be kept in Plaster, Hydrostone, Y-Tong (Rarely), Pumice, Slim Nests, Tanks, and of course trusty test tubes.

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[bg=fbd9bd] Tapinoma imparis eat insects, nectar, honey, sugar water, fruits. They also need access to fresh water at all times. Oddly enough, colonies often have a hard time adapting to the standard ant keeping diet. One should experiment and vary the foods available.

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[bg=fbd9bd] T. sessile does not shoot formic acid, but do use other chemicals for defense. They are fairly challenging to keep, because of their small size and picky diet. Petroleum Jelly/Vaseline is often used as an escape deterrent. Foraging workers often have partners.

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[bg=fbd9bd] Tapinoma sessile hibernate in the wild and normally wake up in March-April. It is advised that they are hibernated in order to stimulate the queens into laying again.

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Colony moving locations


Alex Wild

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Thanks Limes excelant fs, exalt.

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I keep this species (I live in Maine, so they definitely reach as far north as Canada.) Tapinoma sessile is actually monogynous in my area, with modest, yet robust, nomadic colonies. They hold normal nuptial flights in June. The queens and workers are a little smaller than your measurements (4 - 4.5mm queens, 2.5 - 3mm workers, as with AntWeb). I caught three queens last year (which founded a colony pleometrosically) but the workers evicted all but one queen at the end of the season. Perhaps mature colonies make exceptions for polygyny, but this species seems to have a different lifestyle based on its location. Many of the people I've talked with on the East Coast have had a similar experience with Tapinoma.

These ants appear to be much more accepting of captivity if they were raised that way. Since Tapinoma colonies move frequently in the wild, this species proves easy to capture, but perhaps this also contributes to the failure rate.

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Thanks for the information BSF. I have edited to include your contributions.

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From what I have read, as well as from personal experience, T. sessile colonies tend to not last long in captivity. I am not sure as to the reason behind this. The monogynous colony I collected around a year ago here in Fort Collins, CO wouldn't accept any food I offered them, with the exception of honey and maple syrup. It seems that most others have similar experiences.

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Apr 15, 2012 5:19:38 GMT 1 @coloradoants said:

From what I have read, as well as from personal experience, T. sessile colonies tend to not last long in captivity. I am not sure as to the reason behind this. The monogynous colony I collected around a year ago here in Fort Collins, CO wouldn't accept any food I offered them, with the exception of honey and maple syrup. It seems that most others have similar experiences.

Right, I'm thinking this has to do with the fact that the colony grew up in the wild. My Tapinoma enjoy honey and fruit flies.

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Tapinoma sessile "can" be a very invasive species. Not so much in native habitats, where their colonies are tiny. However, in urban or/and disturbed areas, they become highly invasive. I tried raising a colony in the apartments (not a captive one), and they had a million ants after a few years. Their colony was huge. They are horrible fighters however and the Argentine ants killed a lot of them. Still some around, so they'll probably make a comeback in a few years from now.

I tried raising them a few times in captivity. They do really well, but after a week (or sometimes less), I would lose 95% of the colony in a matter of one day.