Bog Odorous Ant

Dolichoderus pustulatus · Order: Hymenoptera · Family: Formicidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Bog Odorous Ant
Photo: Jonghyun Park, CC BY

Workers show regional colour differences: southern individuals have orangish-brown heads, antennae, metasoma and legs with a darker gaster, while northern ones are uniformly reddish-brown or dark brown. Their nests are hidden in soil among plant roots and colonies are smaller than those of similar Dolichoderus species.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Southern workers have orangish-brown heads, antennae, metasoma and legs with a darker gaster.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

They are found in fens, prairies, glades and at the edges of woods. Nests are concealed in soil among plant roots.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Colonies are smaller than those of Dolichoderus mariae and Dolichoderus taschenbergi.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 30 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Mississippi, New York, Illinois, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Bog Odorous Ant photo 2
Photo: Jonghyun Park, CC BY
Bog Odorous Ant photo 3
Photo: Michael Branstetter at www.antweb.org., CC BY-SA
Bog Odorous Ant photo 4
Photo: Jonghyun Park, CC BY
Bog Odorous Ant photo 5
Photo: Jonghyun Park, CC BY

Questions people ask

What do the workers look like?

Southern workers have orangish-brown heads, antennae, metasoma and legs with a darker gaster, while northern workers are uniformly reddish-brown or dark brown.

Source: Wikipedia

How can I tell this ant apart from similar species?

Its colonies are smaller than those of Dolichoderus mariae and Dolichoderus taschenbergi.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Formicidae)

Eastern Black Carpenter AntEastern Black Carpenter AntCamponotus pennsylvanicusCan damage your homeRed Imported Fire AntRed Imported Fire AntSolenopsis invictaCan stingAmerican Winter AntAmerican Winter AntPrenolepis imparisArgentine AntArgentine AntLinepithema humileNuisance, not dangerousImmigrant Pavement AntImmigrant Pavement AntTetramorium immigransCan stingOdorous House AntOdorous House AntTapinoma sessileCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolichoderus_pustulatus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.