Pest Library

Characteristics

These ants are also known by the name sugar ants because they love sweets and will mostly forage indoors to get them. Their body length is 1/12 to 1/16 inch long with a variation of yellow to reddish brown hue. They have a 12-segmented antennae with a 3-segmented club at the end.

Habitat

These ants are indoor pests and are mostly found throughout the United States. They are more common in the southern states, but they can also be found in the northern states. Pharaoh ants cannot survive outdoors all year because of the temperate climates in the country, which is why they live indoors, especially during the cold season. They can, however, survive outdoors in Florida, southern Texas, and Hawaii because the temperature in these states is just perfect for them.

Unlike other ants, pharaoh ants do not create mounds or destroy wood to create galleries for their nests. These ants will just simply look for an opening indoors. Wall voids, behind baseboards, cabinet voids, behind appliances, inside shower rods, inside boxes, stacked newspapers are just some of the places these ants can stay. When they are outdoors, pharaoh ants will be contented staying in flower pots, leaf litter, rain gutters, and debris where they will not be disturbed.

Behavior

Pharaoh ants are morning creatures. They start foraging for food in the morning. Once they find a place where food is always available, they will leave a long lasting, attractive chemical trail or pheromones that can last several days for other ants to follow. They can also use pheromones to mark where their food sources are. Pheromones can be used in a variety of ways. They can use it to create a scent trail to a food or they can also use it to reposition their trail and avoid the old ones.

Food

Pharaoh ants love sweets, although they can eat almost anything that are available in the kitchen. They can eat sweet, fatty or oily foods and dead insects.

Life Cycle

Pharaoh ants are just like any other ant colonies that have a queen or queens, males, workers, and eggs. Mating happens when a female reproductive mate with a male. They do not need to swarm and can just mate in their nest. Once the queen lays her eggs, these eggs will need 38 days before it becomes an adult worker. Males and the queens will need 42 days to develop. Pharaoh ants create large colonies that may have a single or multiple queens. Workers are monomorphic, which means they have the same size and appearance.

Pharaoh ants can create multiple colonies with a lot or hundreds of queens, depending on the size of the colony. They can create colonies that are near each other while the ants from different colonies can still live in peace with the neighboring colonies. The survival of the colony does not rely on a single queen. Part of the success of this ant species is their ability to reproduce queens. Even when the original queen dies, another queen will take her place. In fact, several hundred reproductive females are born to create more brood.

Other Information and Tips

Pharaoh ants are considered pests throughout the U.S. Their ability to create large colonies in a matter of months can be quite alarming. Elimination and control over these pests can be really difficult, especially if they have made large and small colonies indoors and outdoors.Pharaoh ant control may require baits to kill the queens in the colony. However, if these ants are still persistent, it is necessary to contact a professional pest control company for help. These ants will just need a single colony to create multiple large and small colonies in under six months. So, if your solution does not work, let a professional do it for you.