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Ant Control Services
Miche Pest Control is a family owned and operated, full service pest control company that provides residential and commercial pest control services for ants in Washington DC, Maryland, and Northern Virginia. Our expert ant exterminators get rid of ants fast, and use preventative methods to help keep ants from coming back after they've been eliminated. Miche Pest Control has a 4.9 star rating and over 1,000 reviews online - click on the button below to get started, or give us a call today!
Pharaoh Ants: Small Ants With Large Colonies
Pharaoh ants are a type of small, yellow or light brown ant that is native to Africa. These ants have become a major pest in homes, hospitals, and other buildings around the world, due to their ability to establish large, hard-to-control colonies.
Pharaoh ants are small insects, typically about 1/16 inch in length, with a two-segmented body and a narrow waist. They have long, thin legs and antennae, and are a yellow or light brown color.
Pharaoh ants live in large colonies that can contain thousands of ants. They build nests in a variety of places, including inside walls, under floors, and in furniture. These ants are known for their ability to establish nests in small, hard-to-reach places, which can make them difficult to control.
Pharaoh ants are omnivorous and will feed on a wide range of foods, including insects, seeds, and even small animals. However, they are particularly attracted to sweet foods, such as fruit juice, honey, and sugar.
If you have a pharaoh ant infestation in your home or building, it is important to take steps to control and eliminate the ants. There are a number of methods that can be used to control pharaoh ants, including the use of bait, dust, and liquid insecticides. It is important to follow the instructions on the product label and use caution when applying any chemical control measures.
In conclusion, Pharaoh ants are a type of small, yellow or light brown ant that is native to Africa. These ants have become a major pest in homes, hospitals, and other buildings around the world, due to their ability to establish large, hard-to-control colonies. If you have a pharaoh ant infestation in your home or building, there are a number of methods that can be used to control and eliminate these ants. For professional assistance getting rid of Pharaoh ants, contact us today!
Pharaoh Ants
Pharaoh Ants are a common type of ant that has been distributed worldwide, as it was spread for centuries by international trade. Pharaoh ants get their name from the fact that they were once believed to originate from Egypt.
A Pharaoh ant colony has multiple queens and nests, and propagates by fission or budding. Pharaoh ants are tramp ants, characterized by their transient nesting behavior. They are known as the most difficult type of household ant to control. This is because Pharaoh ants have a predisposition towards creating "satellite" colonies. An application of residual insecticides often triggers the splintering of a colony of Pharaoh ants into numerous satellite colonies. In cases where treatments are applied repeatedly, Pharaoh ant infestations can spread throughout an entire building. Even without insecticides, a localized infestation of Pharaoh ants can spread quickly. Colony budding is a contributing factor, but the main cause is inadvertent transport by people. They can also forage long distances.
In temperate regions, Pharaoh ants nest indoors, but in the tropics they often nest outdoors. In their selection of nest sites, they are opportunistic, occupying any crack or crevice with sufficient warmth and high humidity. In houses, they are frequently found in kitchens and bathrooms, near a source of water. Nests are often located in inaccessible spots such as interior wall voids, under floors, and behind baseboards or window sills. In institutional facilities, they are found in kitchens, laundries, boiler rooms, and around toilets, sinks, heating ducts, and pipes. They are potentially dangerous in hospitals because of their ability to transmit disease organisms.
Pharaoh ants forage both day and night, often going undetected due to their small size and cryptic habits. Their trails are often hidden behind baseboards, cabinets, and walls where they use wires and pipes to travel, but trails sometimes become evident when they emerge from electrical outlets and plumbing fixtures. Outside, trails are found around windows and doorways and following along the edges of bricks or siding. The extensive foraging of Pharaoh ants is facilitated by trail pheromones. This includes the intensity of depositing pheromone relative to food quality, the type of pheromone, and even specifics such as the angle of diverging pheromone trails.
Pharaoh ants are omnivores, feeding on fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. They scavenge, and they kill small insects. To ensure a balanced diet, they have an alternation and satiation response to food: when Pharaoh ants are confronted with a choice between carbohydrates and proteins, colonies prefer the one they have not been feeding upon, and when provided a preferred food for an extended period of time, colonies will then switch to other foods when offered a choice.
Pharaoh ant workers are small, measuring at only 1.5 to 2 millimeters long. Pharaoh ant coloration varies, ranging from yellowish or light brown to red, with their abdomen frequently being darker in color, even blackish, especially at the tip. Their antennae have 12 segments, with a 3-segmented club. Pharaoh ant eyes are relatively small. As a two node ant, Pharaoh ants have stingers, but the stinger is rarely extended. Queens are similar in color to workers, but are about twice the size.
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