Pharaoh Ants
The one thing you should know if you’re trying to get rid of them
Pharaoh ants are a very small (approximately 2mm in length), yellowish-brown, harmless species of ant. Despite what you may assume from their name, they are actually very humble, and won't even mention their connection with King Tut unless it comes up naturally in the conversation.
As their name suggests, they are natives of Africa, but are now so common in the United States, you’ll find them almost across the whole territory.
What do pharaoh ants eat?
As previously stated, they like to lay low so they won't bother you with dietary restrictions. Instead they’ll be content with anything you have left around the house for them to find, including the family pet’s food.
Do pharaoh ants pose a threat by living inside?
They’re not dangerous by themselves but, like most ants, they can carry pathogens like salmonella or bacteria like streptococcus. The risk you face when having them as roommates is that they can contaminate your food and you may not even notice.
In other kinds of environments like hospitals or restaurants, they have to be strictly controlled because the risk of them contaminating a kitchen may be disastrous.
So, I’ll just spray them with insecticide and be done with it, right?
That’s the tricky part… They are very sensitive ants which makes them difficult to control because, as soon as they sense their colony is being attacked or they’re in danger in any way, they will split into multiple satellite colonies, setting up shop elsewhere, with new queens and all.
Spraying pharaoh ants with a pesticide is not an effective solution since you may end up with more colonies than the ones you started with. That is why identification is crucial. If you are finding ants all too similar and don't know for sure which one of them you have, give us a call. At AMPTEST, we will be more than happy to take care of this task for you and answer all your questions regarding solutions.
There are many other effective solutions for pharaoh ant infestations. One of those is using bait for them to take back to their colony so that it can take care of business from the inside. The kind of material in granular and gel ant baits is not something you’d want to mess with. Make sure to call a professional.
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