Pharaoh Ant (nest fragment/specimen)

Natural Habitat

Typically found indoors in climate-controlled buildings, often nesting in wall voids, behind baseboards, or within cavities. They prefer warm, humid areas near food and water sources.

Diet & Feeding

Omnivorous scavengers that consume a wide variety of foods including fats, proteins, and carbohydrates (syrups, jellies, and cakes). They are also known to scavenge on dead insects.

Behavior Patterns

They exhibit 'budding' where a queen and group of workers leave the main colony to start a new one, making them difficult to eradicate with spray pesticides. They are active year-round in indoor environments.

Risks & Benefits

Considered a major indoor pest. In hospitals, they can spread pathogens like Salmonella, Staphylococcus, and Clostridium by crawling over sterile equipment and wounds. They offer little to no ecosystem benefit in urban settings.

Identified on: 1/15/2026