this post was submitted on 09 Feb 2026
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Is it the formic acid?
Depends. With North American formica ants, it's formic acid, but with Canadian odorous house ants, it's a methyl ketone that smells a lot like blue cheese.
Oh, so stinky feet smell?
Kinda? I'd almost describe it as halfway between stinky feet and the smell that stink bugs give off.
Yeah
Has to be, it's got that same "bite" that other acids have, only a little more earthy
I cant smell ants but I can "smell" formic acid. Even diluted formic acid is so much more pungent and terrible then vinegar, so I doubt its that...
I went and read up on it, was going to edit in , but I'll just do it here.
Apparently it isn't the formic acid, it's other chemicals, and not all ants produce them. I have smelled what they're talking about, or at least three descriptions of one kind of ant smelling like funky cheese is something I have run into.
So you're totally right, and my assumption was wrong.
But damn, formic acid, even dilute, really is pungent. Nose wrinkling, sneeze inducing for me.
Care to share what you read? I'm curious, too.
Yeah so i paid a team of experts to do my job