Where does the term piss ant come from?

Question

Where does the term "piss ant" come from? My mom is from the appalachian region and that is what she always calls "regular" ants as opposed to bigger black ants.

Answer 1

Hehehehe It's considered an insulting term to refer to someone as a piss ant, but there is also an actual ant by that name. The ants produce a chemical that smells like urine and as a result they were named, "piss ants".

Answer 2

Piss Ants

Answer 3

In the United States, any small or tiny ant that infests a home is often labeled as a Pissant or piss ant. An actual Pissant is an ant that lives in certain European forests and gets its name from the odor produce by its nesting material - pine straw and pine needles. Middle English pissemyre : pisse, urine (from the smell of the formic acid that ants secrete); piss + mire, ant (probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish myre).

Answer 4

Pissants, Piss Ants
Small, Nuisance Ant Infestations
Odorous Ants, Piss Ants, Sugar Ants
In the United States, any small or tiny ant that infests a home is often labeled as a Pissant or piss ant. An actual Pissant is an ant that lives in certain European forests and gets its name from the odor produce by its nesting material - pine straw and pine needles. Middle English pissemyre : pisse, urine (from the smell of the formic acid that ants secrete); piss + mire, ant (probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish myre).

Small indoor ant infestations (those commonly called piss ants, sugar ants) can be any of a variety of small ants. Pharaoh Ants, Ghost Ants, White-Footed Ants, Odorous House Ants, Crazy Ants and other small ants are often the number one pest control problem in certain areas of the country. On the west coast of the United States, Argentine Ants are a major concern.

Each ant species has different characteristics that must be examined before deciding on pest control methods. Most small ants can easily detect insecticide materials in ant bait, making an ant bait program ineffective. Pharaoh Ants, on the other hand, require extensive baiting procedures to eliminate them from a structure.

Ant baits are very attractive pest control tools to many people for various reasons. If an ant population will accept a bait, insecticide sprays and dusts are not always necessary. In many cases the ants seem to accept the bait only to desert it after one or two days. Once this happens, conventional sprays and dusts are often needed to eliminate the ant colony from a home or other structure. Spraying the interior and exterior surfaces of the building with a Cypermethrin product easily kills foraging ants. Using Delta Dust in cracks, crevices, entry points, hiding places and areas such as attics will kill ants and other bugs for long periods and is often necessary for large or stubborn ant infestations