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PHARAOH ANT
COMMON NAME: Pharaoh ant
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus)
CLASS / ORDER / FAMILY: Insecta / Hymenoptera / Formicidae
METAMORPHOSIS: Complete
INTRODUCTION. The Pharaoh ant took its name as a result from the mistaken belief of Linnaeus that this ant was one of the plagues of Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs. Pharaoh ants are believed to be from the African region. Pharaoh ants are found throughout the United States. Pharaoh ants have been strongly linked in the spread of many disease pathogens.
RECOGNITION. Workers monomorphic, about 1/16” long. The body is usually pale in color and varies from yellowish to a reddish amber, with its abdomen being often darker to blackish. The antenna is 12-segmented with a 3-segmented club. The thorax does not have spines and its profile is unevenly rounded. The pedicel is 2-segmented. A stinger is present. The queens are about 1/8” long, with or without wings, and is slightly darker in color than workers. The males are about 1/16" long, have wings and are black in color. The antenna are straight and not elbowed.
BIOLOGY. Colonies tend to be very large with the workers often numbering to several hundred-thousand. There are usually several hundred reproductive females present in such a colony. Although winged reproductives are produced, there are no flights of swarmers and mating takes place within the nest. New nests can be formed by "budding" with as few as 5 workers, 10 preadults, and one queen migrating from the original colony. Developmental time (egg to adult) for workers is a little over 30 and at about 800F. Workers live about 10 weeks, with only up to 10% out foraging at any given time for food/water. Queens can live up to 12 months, and the males die within about 3-5 weeks after mating. Pharaoh ants are of particular importance in hospitals where they will enter wounds, enter in-use IV bottles, seek moisture from the mouths of sleeping infants, etc. Over a dozen pathogenic bacteria have been found on Pharaoh ants collected in hospitals.
HABITS. Inside, Pharaoh ants prefer to nest in warm (85°F), humid (80%) areas which are near sources of food and/or water. Nests are usually located in inaccessible areas such as wall voids, behind baseboards, in furniture, under floors, and between linens. This is why the main colony is often difficult to locate for applying an insecticide. The workers range a great distance from the nest in search of food and water. They establish trails to food and water sources for others to follow. They commonly use electrical and telephone wires as a highway system to travel through walls and between floors. Pharaoh ants are common problems in commercial food handling establishments such as hotels, grocery stores, hospitals, and in apartment complexes. Ants are now the number one pest in the United States.
Outside, these ants seem to be of little importance today. In the temperate/northern areas of the United States, they usually cannot survive outdoors year round; some have observed outdoor over-wintering colonies as far north as North Carolina. However, in the subtropical areas such as Florida and Hawaii, they can survive year round outdoors.
They have a wide preference in food, ranging from syrups to fruits, pies, meats, and dead insects. They use carbohydrates primarily for maintenance whereas, protein is primarily required for larval development and egg production by the queens.
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