Reasons for Control.

• The garden ant is attracted to fatty and sugary food therefore can become a nuisance anywhere these food sources exist.

• The Pharaoh Ant is of much greater significance as unlike the black ant it is capable of spreading disease.
  • They can pick up harmful germs when they feed on decomposing food, faecal matter and when coming into contact with drains and hospital dressings
• Both types of ants are difficult to eradicate, but the Pharaoh ant is particularly difficult to eradicate because the worker ants can ‘bud off’ to form new colonies and can form smaller colonies if main colony is subject to stress.
• Pharaoh ants are spread easily in mobile nests in items of clothing.

Biology.

• Life cycle – Egg – Larva – Pupa – Adult
• The garden ant is black about 5mm long
• The Pharaoh’s ant is yellow about 2mm long

Garden Ants

• In late Spring the first eggs are laid, when they reach adulthood they feed the new larvae
• Once the larvae mature they leave the nest and take flight, this is a short-lived problem and does not require treatment.
• The garden ants mate in flight between July and September
• The female then looses her wings and burrows into the ground for the winter.
• The female becomes the queen and forms a colony.
• A nest may last several years

Pharaoh’s Ants

• The life cycle is the same as the Garden ants
• A nest unlike Garden ants can contain many queens
• When a nest becomes overcrowded new colonies are formed by eggs and larvae carried by worker ants.

Prevention & Control.

Ensure sugary foods are kept in sealed containers and that food areas are cleaned up

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