Odorous House Ants Make Their Way to Hawaii

Researchers at Purdue University announce that a species of insects called odorous house ants has arrived on Hawaii, after being a pest in the contiguous United States for many years. Etomologist Grzegorz Buczkowski says that the insects are unlikely to depart their new home any time soon.

“Odorous house ants in Hawaii are not like they are here in natural areas where they live in small colonies. They are creating megacolonies like they do in urban areas,” the Purdue expert explains.

“We went there to eliminate the ants, but we found it's too late to treat for them,” the researcher adds in a paper published in the latest issue of the scientific journal Myrmecological News. One of the worse things about these ants is that they are tremendously difficult to remove once they infest homes.