By smell, do u mean like ants are walking by n u can smell them, or like you're jamming your face into ant hills n giving it a whiff?

This makes me wonder all the weird shit we can't detect just because of our genes. Like I read about this one women who could smell dementia. And to think birds can see UV light and its theorized they can see the fucking earth's magnetic field which is how they can tell which why is north and south.

My mother in law can do it, she'll walk into a room, sniff disagreeably and say - "Huele a hormiga."

I never noticed this, but I'm not around ants that much as a software engineer. :)

Which ants? All ants?

Is it the formic acid? I bet it is.

I agree it's surprising that people can smell ants as a genetic quirk, but it's not typing-what-the-fuck-in-all-caps surprising.

I can for sure smell them but only close up, not from feet away so I’m not sure what that means for me in terms of this gene. They have a very odd musty smell which is also detectable on anything they’ve walked on recently. It’s not a very pleasant odor.

As far as I know it’s all ants, not just a particular type.

WHO RUNS AROUND SNIFFING ON ANTS?!

I swear if I get close enough I can hear ants. Am I crazy or is this a thing? (It’s like a high pitched buzzing or humming, like an electrical hum.)