Pharaoh Ants can be found throughout Ontario. In buildings, nests are usually first located in warm, moist areas such as the kitchen, bathrooms or laundry rooms of houses, cottages and, buildings. As infestations become more severe, ants will be found in other, but less preferred, areas of a building. You will often see Pharaoh ants in window sills, kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, along baseboards, on kitchen and bathroom counters, in medicine cabinets and behind refrigerators or stoves.

Pharaoh ant workers and males are about 1.2 to 2 mm long; queens are about 4 mm with/without wings. Workers are pale yellow to red; darker abdomen is almost black; queens are slightly darker. The black pharaoh ants are often called "little black ants".

Inside, Pharaoh ants nest in warm areas 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. The workers range widely from the nest in search of food and water, and establish trails to food and water sources. They have a wide preference in food, ranging from sweets, fruits, meats, dead insects and kitchen crumbs. They use carbohydrates primarily for maintenance whereas; protein is primarily required for larval development and egg production by the queens.

Colonies usually have thousands of workers, and up to several hundred thousand. There are usually several hundred reproductive females present in such a colony. Mating takes place inside the nest. Development from egg to adult takes about 38 days, if the temperature is warm. Workers live about 9 or 10 weeks, with only 10% going out to feed at one time. Queens live much longer, from 4 to 12 months, and colonies may have several queens. Males die about 3 to 5 weeks after mating. New nests can be formed with as few as 5 workers, 10 pre adults, and 1 queen.

Pharaoh ants often nest indoors and can survive year round between floorboards and in cracks and crevices where there is warmth and high humidity. They can be especially damaging in houses, cottages and buildings as they will often chew insulation and wiring or make holes in fabrics.

Please call us to book in for the 2025 ant control season or call us for a free, over the phone, ant control estimate.

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