Most people find it hard to tell the difference between different types of ants. If it isn’t a fire ant, why should you have to? Because they’re difficult to tell apart, household ants are often referred to by one name. “Sugar ant” is a general term for several different ant species you can expect to see in the household, especially around sugary spills and crumbs. Most of these ant species are harmless, but one ant species that falls under this umbrella can be a vector for disease and bacteria: the pharaoh ant.

What Is A Pharaoh Ant?

Ants of this species are an alarming variety of sugar ant known to cause health problems in hospital patients. These types of ants do not belong in the home, and despite their size, they do have physical differences even you can see (probably with a magnifying glass) to tell them apart.

Pharaoh Ants

  • They have a pale body varying from yellow to reddish with a darker to black abdomen growing up to 1/16 of an inch long.
  • Their segmented body looks similar to a camel’s humps, and their antennae have twelve segments ending in a club shape.
  • Colonies contain several queens that can leave the nest to start new colonies.
  • Queen ants produce around 400 eggs in their lifespan of 4 months to a year long.
  • Indoors, they will nest in wall and floor voids, but they can and do choose tight, inaccessible areas like electrical outlets and between books.
  • Pharaoh ants carry diseases like salmonella, staphylococcus, and clostridium.
  • They prefer warm, moist areas, which make them a particular threat in hospitals when they try to nest in IVs, in patient’s mouths, and under patient’s bandages where they infest wounds.

Wound-infesting pests reach a whole new level of the heebie-jeebies. We understand why you’d want to prevent them from coming into your home, and luckily, there are a few ways to make your home less appealing to pharaoh ants.

How To Prevent Pharaoh Ant & Other Sugar Ant Infestations

Preventing any kind of ant from taking up residence in your home usually follows the same process. Often it comes down to outdoor maintenance and sanitization to keep these guys away. Try these tips to keep them outdoors:

  • Do a thorough perimeter check of your home, making sure to seal up cracks and holes with silicone-based caulking.
  • Keep tree limbs trimmed back from roofs and shrubbery well-maintained and distant from windows.
  • Store firewood away from the home and check logs thoroughly before bringing them indoors.
  • Keep counters and surfaces clean and free of crumbs.
  • Store food in sealed containers, limiting cardboard and one-use plastic containers in your cabinets.
  • Keep indoor trash sealed and take it out frequently. Keep outdoor trash away from the house and in a sealed container.
  • Eliminate standing water sources by fixing leaking pipes or maintaining landscape to get rid of areas that collect water.

We understand how frustrating any type of ant presence can be. If these prevention tips aren’t enough to keep these invaders away, the best kind of pest prevention involves enlisting the help of a professional for regular visits.

Pest Czar Can Keep Your Home Safe Year-Round

At Pest Czar, our residential pest control methods are tailored to the needs of each client. If you need regular visits to keep pests at bay, we have different packages available. For pests that can populate several colonies of 2,500 ants a piece in a small amount of time, it’s vital to get on top of the problem at the first sighting. Call Pest Czar today for our effective ant control service.