Pharaoh Ants are a unique species of ant. They are very small, only about 1/16 of an inch long and their color can range from yellow to red, but usually are amber in color. Due to their small size and color, they are almost translucent. The thing that makes this ant unique and of greater concern is their ability to “bud” to form new colonies. Unlike most ants, spraying the nest with pesticide [if you can find it] usually doesn’t solve the problem. In fact, in many cases, it multiplies the problem. These ants can really get out of hand if not treated properly. A study done years ago, under ideal conditions, produced over 350,000 ants in one room!

There are several reasons that make these ants a formidable adversary and a significant problem if they infest a structure. Pharaoh ant nests contain multiple queens and are all or in part mobile. The workers have the ability to select and make a new queen on their own [budding]. They nest in almost any crack or crevice and their small size allows them to get into almost anything. Individual workers are easily killed with pesticide, but the survivors, cut off from the main nest by the pesticide, could “bud” and form a new colony and so on. As a point of interest, in an infested home that the homeowner had tried to treat, I found them in an electric appliance, under a plate on a counter and just nesting on a wall behind some plastic plants, as well as more common sights. In another home with a hot air heating system, I saw a few thousand dead ants and that was only the ones that were strong enough to make it out of the ducts before they died.

The Pharaoh Ant can be confused with other ant species, the False Honey Ant and the Thief Ant as an example. The best way to identify them is by examining their antennae, as each has it’s own configuration. Given their small size, this must be done under a microscope. As the treatment for Pharaoh Ants is more involved, completely different and costly, proper identification is more important than with any other ant.