If a Pharaoh ant infestation is suspected, it is recommended to contact a licensed ant exterminator.ĭon’t wait until your home is overrun by ants. Additionally, this species can survive most conventional household pest control treatments, enabling them to establish large colonies throughout a home or building. Due to their ability to transmit disease organisms, a Pharaoh ant infestation is potentially dangerous in hospitals. Pharaoh ants feed on other insects, oils, proteins, and sweets. They will also enter in and become a problem in homes that provide them with food sources. Implicated in the spread of more than a dozen disease pathogens, they are known to spread salmonella and streptococcus. Pharaoh ants often choose the inside of homes and buildings to live in because they provide them with a constant source of artificial heat to survive in throughout the entire year. Pharaoh ants can bite, but their real threat is their ability to spread diseases. Pharaoh Ant Behaviors, Threats or Dangers

Besides sweets and protein, Pharaoh ants have a high daily water requirement and will forage for water just as aggressively as they do for food. Using electrical wires and plumbing pipes, Pharaoh ants can travel from room to room, spreading throughout a structure quickly.

A species of ant, Monomorium pharaonis, native to the United States but introduced elsewhere. In household structures, nests are often located in inaccessible spots near moisture, such as bathrooms, kitchens, interior walls voids, under floors, and behind baseboards and or window sills. NounEdit pharaoh ant (plural pharaoh ants). Outdoors they prefer shaded areas near moisture or under debris. Worldwide spread of the pharaoh ant, Monomorium pharaonis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pharaoh Ant Habitatįoraging both day and night, Pharaoh ants feed on sweets, proteins, and live or dead insects. Several other Monomorium species are also known as tramp ants. Indoors they nest in any well-protected and hidden areas throughout a structure and prefer lawns and gardens outdoors. Due to their splintering ability, Pharoah ant infestations can spread quickly in homes and buildings, forming colonies with over 300,000 workers and multiple queens. An invasive species, Pharaoh ants build colonies that splinter off and form new colonies when disturbed. Known for being the most difficult household ant to control, Pharaoh ants are found throughout Virginia.