Pharaoh Ants
Pharaoh ants are very small, around 1/16 inch long. Most of them are yellow or gold in color. To properly identify these ants, you may need to talk to a experienced pest control service and/or use a microscope.
Pharaoh ants are very difficult to control for a number of reasons.
- They can have very large colonies
- Their main nest can be difficult to find. Since they are so tiny in size, they may have a very large nest in a very small area.
- Unlike most ant colonies, pharaoh ants have several queens. This allows their colony to grow very rapidly. It can also allow the colony to split into more colonies causing more of a problem.
- Normal pesticides do not work with pharaoh ants and can actually make the problem worse than it already was. Most pesticides will just make the colony “bud” or split off from the main colony and start new ones.
Most of the time, pharaoh ants will nest in an area that is dark and warm. More often than not, they will be nesting in a wall void. They do not live outdoors in this area and therefore, have to be brought in to establish a colony.
Control
Since most pesticides only make the matter worse, the main thing to use is a food based bait designed for pharaoh ants. The worker ants will carry the bait back to the colony and directly feed it to other ants in the colony, including the queens. Baiting is the most effective way to treat for pharaoh ants, however, it may take anywhere from several weeks to even months to eradicate them.