Candles make the room and internal environment soothing, but these can also be enticing for some insects and ants that get attracted to beautiful odors and warmth.
Are Ants Attracted To Candles? Ants are attracted to candles due to their sweet floral and fruity scent that allures their odor receptors. They can also reach candles if food and debris are nearby, but the candle wax does not invite them. You can use candles containing essential oils or repelling fragrances like lavender, mint, and coffee to keep ants away.
Almost all species of ants find candles’ odor pleasant because their receptors are sensitive to the sweet fragrances of food.
Why are ants attracted to candles?
Ants find many things attractive indoors and reach the food sources with a pleasant odor. Their sense of smell helps them to select food items as they reject unpleasant foods.
Accordingly, they do not consider candles attractive, but their pleasant odor draws them indoors. Only scented candles can invite these ants as they give off a beautiful aroma during burning.
Sometimes, they detect food particles or crumbs around them and get attracted to food. They do not leave an opportunity to fill their bellies with nutritious food and reach there quickly.
In addition, the presence of dirt and debris on the stands, and tables can also attract insects.
Some scents mimic their chemical secretions, so these insects mistakenly consider these odors pheromone trails and begin moving in their direction.
They can also try to reach areas close to burning candles to seek warmth in the cold weather. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions from them can also draw these insects.
So, they are not inherently drawn towards the candle, but their pleasant scent and the food particles can attract them.
What scented candles can attract ants?
Scented candles can help create a cozy ambiance inside the home and give off a soothing aroma that can also attract undesired pests inside the house.
The type of scent helps determine their potential to attract ants because some have repelling odors that are not inviting for these insects.
Moreover, they have an incredible sense of smell and possess a large number of olfactory receptors that are highly sensitive to sweet scents of fruits and flowers.
They prefer to consume sweet fruits and get attracted to places where they detect fruity odors. So, the candles having fruity and sweet aromas can draw ants towards them.
Those with the odor of vanilla, berries, and other fruits can entice insects’ odor receptors and trigger them to move in a particular direction.
In addition, the pleasant fragrance of flowers can also allure these insects, so candles having floral scents like rose, jasmine, and peonies can grab the attention of nearby living insects.
Food-related scents are also commonly used to prepare candles with a sweet and appetizing odor. It is not possible for these insects to resist and avoid the pleasant odors of chocolate.
Similarly, honey, caramel, almonds, and many other food flavors can attract ants to the candles because they consider it a food source and reach there for the food.
Furthermore, you can find some candles containing artificial sugars and other food flavors that can also attract insects, but they avoid their consumption, as they do not eat wax.
How to keep ants away from candles?
It is essential to keep ants away from candles because many people keep them on the dining table, which can make your food prone to attack by these insects.
In addition, they can also reach the side tables close to the bed by following beautiful scents and pose a risk of bites or stings to people on the bed.
Accordingly, it is safe to use candles with no scents that will not only provide a cozy ambiance and glow to your room but do not emit any fragrance.
However, you can also select the ones having essential oils because the strong scents of these oils can repel the insects away and provide a beautiful aroma in the room.
Peppermint and eucalyptus oil have deterrent properties that are suitable for use without the risk of infestation at your place.
In addition, you can seal the entry routes to keep them out of the house when they cannot come indoors, even if they detect scents from outside.
Keep the stands and other placement furniture clean, as dirt and debris can potentially attract them when the candles are not burning and emitting any fragrance.
Do ants eat candle wax?
Many people think that ants are interested in the wax but are not attracted to its wax material. Wax is not a food source as it contains petroleum, soy, and bee wax.
These wax constituents do not produce any pleasant scent that can invite insects, so it is not responsible for drawing insects indoors.
Ants have no affinity for candle wax because it has no nutritional value and a beautiful fragrance to allure these tiny insects that are only attracted to energy-rich and sweet food.
One of my friends was dealing with a large number of pharaoh ants in his room and figured out that these insects were coming for candles, so he removed them by considering that they eat wax.
However, it did not help to control the crawling insects because they were still coming to the side table. So, he found that food particles were attracting these insects.
Accordingly, look for other possible reasons for outdoor insects’ entry indoors because they have no interest in eating the wax of candles.
Do candles keep ants away?
Candles cannot attract or repel ants, but they produce an aroma when the wax burns. Insects detect the repelling odors and prefer to stay away from them.
So, some scented candles can help you get rid of these nuisance pests at home. You have to choose their odors carefully to benefit from the deterring effect.
The natural scents of citrus fruits like oranges and lemons can help repel ants because they do not like their citrus odor and avoid getting closer to them.
In addition, you can prevent their invasion indoors by placing scented candles that give off a citrus odor at a close distance or almost 1 foot apart from each other.
It can help you get rid of ants from a particular area as they feel threatened after smelling these strong citrus odors. Moreover, the mint and vinegar odors also discourage these insects.
Cinnamon and lavender are also effective repellents of common ants that can invade the house as they do not like the strong scent and feel irritated.
You can get a candle with a cinnamon aroma or spread the cinnamon powder around them to deter these ants as the dominant odor of cinnamon wipes out their trails.
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