• FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Wow that’s really weird because i thought ants were supposed to be everywhere - at least in summertime when you go outside. If they smell that bad then it must be unbearable just walking around places in the city.

    • starik@lemmy.zip
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      1 day ago

      I can only smell them if I sniff a crushed one up close. It’s been a long time - I don’t step on bugs on purpose.

      • Ada@piefed.blahaj.zone
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        1 day ago

        I don’t think they’re talking about the dead/distressed ant smell. To the best of my knowledge, everyone can smell that. They’re talking about a general smell of ants

        • Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world
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          23 hours ago

          It could be the same smell, maybe just a different concentration of formic acid.

          And no, I can’t smell anything from dead or distressed ants. I’ve never smelled anything from an ant, either dead or alive. It’s definitely not an “everyone can smell that” thing.

          Edit: I just read this comment which says it’s not formic acid. Though they don’t cite any sources (yet), so I don’t really know.

          • Danquebec@sh.itjust.works
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            11 hours ago

            Same, never smelled ants.

            And I’ve watched ants a lot when I was a kid. I still do sometimes.

            I used to even bring pieces of food from the pantry to give to the ants.

        • Biffsbraincell@lemmy.zip
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          15 hours ago

          I’m pretty sure that’s the smell they’re talking about, they make more of it when disturbed or crushed but it’s always a tiny bit there. But pretty sure that’s the smell they’re speaking of.

          • Ada@piefed.blahaj.zone
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            15 hours ago

            The reason I doubt that is because I can’t smell ants “all the time”. And I can definitely smell them when they’re disturbed. But most people who talk about smelling ants describe the smell as “damp” or “mouldy” or “earthy”, and I have never smelled an ant that smells like that.

            The only smell I’ve ever smelled from them is acrid and acidic, and that only happens when they’re disturbed or dead.