Key Features of Pharaoh Ants
The Pharoah Ant is a small tropical species of ant. Workers measure just 2mm long with the queen measuring twice that size. The Pharaoh Ant has a light yellow colouring with a darker abdomen. It has a characteristic ‘double waist’.
Biology
Each new queen will lay between 300 and 350 eggs during her egg-laying spell with an incubation period for each egg of approximately a week. Each individual Pharoah Ant colony consists of many nests and many queens.
Because Pharaoh Ant’s have a tendency towards creating multiple nest sites, infestations can rapidly start to spread and therefore become difficult to control. The ‘worker’ Pharaoh Ants are often known to move the developing brood from an existing nest in order to form a new nest somewhere else and therefore the spread will continue.
The Pharaoh Ant has the ability to become a serious public health pest because it has developed a propensity to nest in structures with central heating systems such as; hospitals and high rise blocks of flats.
Pharaoh Ants are particularly attracted to sweet food such as jam, fruit and sugar. Because of this they can become a significant nuisance in food preparation areas.
