However, should you squish a couple dozen, a musty odor is emitted. Number two on the least-wanted list is the odorous ant, which lives up to its name. Even when a single ant is crushed, the smell of rotting vegetation can be detected. Sacramento residents and businesses also have had problems with velvety tree ants and carpenter ants, but incidents have been few. Outdoors, ants aren't considered major pests except when attracted to the sticky-sweet honeydew secreted by aphids, mealybugs, whiteflies and soft scales.
Ants are so crazy about honeydew, they protect the insects from their predators.
In doing so, ants become something of a nuisance in the garden. Otherwise ants are a beneficial insect and a natural enemy of many problem insects, including termites and fleas. Once they come into the house, they become a problem. Some people say this city was built on an anthill. Unfortunately, I've heard that same thing working in other cities.