Pharaoh ants

Human housing has long attracted the attention of animals and insects access to food. Some of them cause a lot of trouble, and sometimes even become carriers of dangerous infections. This is the ant of the pharaohs or as it is also called the “house ant”. Representatives of this species have been able to expand their habitat over hundreds of years, having inhabited vast areas of the planet and becoming a global problem for millions of inhabitants.

Description and lifestyle of insects

Pharaoh ant - one of the smallest members of the ant family. The body length of working individuals does not exceed 2 mm, males grow up to 3 mm, the largest (up to 4-6 mm) are the uterus.

The main difference of this species of ants is their body, consisting of three segments. It has a light brown, and more often yellow shades tone. That is why the pharaoh ants are also called red. In the abdominal part of the body there are yellow stripes, however, in workers' individuals, due to their small size, they are barely noticeable.

A distinctive feature of the pharaoh's uterus is not only a larger size, but also its dark, almost black body color. Because of what it is very similar to the usual black ant living in gardens. Males have the same color, besides they have wings. The females gnaw them after fertilization.

Pharaoh ants

Pharaoh ants prefer to live in colonies, the number of inhabitants of which can vary within a few thousand. It is possible for insects to achieve this amount due to the presence of anthill several queens.

On a note!

The life expectancy of the pharaohs is small: males live for about 20 days, workers are about 2 months old, but the queen queen is 9 months long.

What to eat

Pharaoh ants are almost omnivorous.However, their favorite delicacies are products of protein composition and sugar-based. That is why red "thieves" can often be seen in a sugar bowl, candy, honey or cookies. They will not refuse meat, sausage. However, the pharaohs give preference to all the same products of liquid or semi-liquid consistency.

How to multiply

For her life alone uterus gives life to approximately 500,000 individuals. She lays eggs and is forced to sprinkle them with special enzymes because of an insufficient number of males. As a result, individuals are born workers. When the amount of enzymes dries out, men are accepted for the cause.

Pharaoh ant eggs are hard to notice: usually the female lays them in hard-to-reach places. And besides, it is difficult to do because of their meager dimensions (up to 0.3 mm). The hatched larvae in appearance do not differ much from the eggs: white and translucent, they have an elongated shape. Their body sizes do not exceed 1.5 mm.

On a note!

The larva emerging from the egg becomes sexually mature after 1-1.5 months.

When an anthill is overflowing with insects, some of them leave and build their houses.However, through a special move, combining the new nest with the parent anthill, Pharaoh ants can communicate with their relatives.

Interesting!

Unusual fact about ants concerns their relationship. Pharaohs do not have much respect for the uterus, they perceive it only as a reproductive individual. If necessary, the inhabitants of the anthill can even move the female to the neighboring anthill. And the uterus, which will lay off fewer eggs, is simply killed for unfitness.

Habitats

Ant habitat

Pharaoh ants are heat-loving insects, temperature below 20 degrees is destructive for them. Insects build nests usually under baseboards, in ceilings, under floors and in furniture drawers. They prefer to be located in a remote place, in connection with which it is not always possible to destroy the inhabitants of an anthill. In addition, these crumbs, actively moving along narrow cracks, quickly infect neighboring apartments. Most often, pests can be found in the kitchen or in the bathroom.

Than pharaohs are harmful

Having settled in a man's dwelling, ants pharaohs give him a lot of trouble.In search of food, insects crawl all over the house, infecting food, furniture, and even things. Pharaoh's ants can bite hardhowever, they commit such attacks in self-defense.

Important!

In the absence of the necessary amount of food, the pharaohs are able to replace it with the hair of animals. Penetration of red pests in the respiratory tract of pets may even cause the animal to suffocate.

Ways to fight

To fight the Pharaohs is quite difficult. It largely depends on the size of the anthill and the number of inhabitants inhabited. After all, if you destroy only part of the ant family, then very soon it will be quickly replenished. Get rid of pharaoh ants can by chemical or folk remedies.

Chemical methods

Chemical products in the form of gels have found wide application among consumers (Clean house, a great warrior, Globol or Help), aerosols (Raptor, Geth, Combat or Reid), as well as crayons and dusts (Delitsion, Vesta or Muracid).

For these purposes you can also use trapsin the middle of which is bait. Having infiltrated into a similar construction, insects take poison on their paws and bring it to the anthill,infecting their kinsmen.

Insect Harm

Folk methods

One of the effective folk remedies is use of boric acid. To attract the attention of pests, the powder is mixed with honey, jam, minced meat or mashed potatoes.

Excellent results in pest control give yeast. They are also mixed with jam and laid out in places where insects accumulate.

On a note!

It has a frightening effect semolina, wormwood, cloves, elderberry or tomato tops. It is enough to decorate the places of movement of the pharaohs with a decoction of these plants, and the ants will not appear there anymore. Garlic juice has similar properties.

However, to prevent the spread of pests can only regular cleaning of the house and the release of garbage.