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Appearance:

Very small; Light yellow to red, with black markings on abdomen.
Pharaoh ants are small, yellow ants about 1/16-inch long

Reproduction:

Grows from egg to adult in about 45 days;females live as long as 39 weeks
and can lay about 400 eggs; workers only live up to 10 weeks.

Pharaoh ants being extremely small can be found in a diversity of places
appearing suddenly.
They have a wide range of foraging and their nest are usually well hidden.
They are very persistent, with large colonies.

Ant Trails:

An excellent article(click on the PDF button-the top right corner of the document)by Univ. of Florida Extension Service
can be found at Ant Trails: Baiting..
It gives an overview of management with baits.

WHY ANT BAIT?

The use of residual sprays or dusts will cause stress on the colonies,
causing them to split into sub-colonies that scatter to other areas in the structure.
This is also called budding.

After spraying, your problem can be worse than at the beginning.

When you bait, you will want a slow acting bait.
Quick kill insecticides and baits will only kill the foraging ants, not allowing the foraging ants to take the bait back home to feed the queen,nest workers and brood.

If the current ant bait that you are using is not acceptable to the ants,
if they are not visiting the bait, it is recommended that you change the baits. Ants require carbohydrates-sugars, proteins and greases.
They find a variety of these sources in nature. Examples are: other insects(proteins and greases), nectar, aphid honeydew ,
plant products(sugar and carbohydrates)

Choosing a bait would require knowing what they are currently feeding off of,
according to the nutritional needs of the colony. To be sure that you have
all the baiting needs met, you may want to be ready with a sugar-carbohydrate bait,
a grease-fat bait, and a protein based bait.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMOVE ANY OTHER FOOD COMPETITION WHEN BAITING
AND LEAVE THE BAIT ALONE ONCE THE ANTS START FEEDING ON IT.

HABITS:

Inside they are usually found in the kitchen and bathrooms ,
but workers are seen trailing along window sills, and baseboards.

They can also be spotted near sources of water in the kitchen and bathrooms,
counter tops, toilets,drains and sinks.

They prefer to nest in recessed areas like wall voids,under some appliance,
wall outlets, under carpet for protection.

Can nest outdoors in lawns and gardens.

A very common inside ant in Florida

RECOMMENDED ANT BAIT PRODUCTS AND TREATMENT :

Baiting would be the preferred treatment over
typical residual spraying,
so you can eliminate the entire colony.

The recommended products for the protein/grease eating cycle would be:

• 
  Maxforce Ant Bait Stations(for protein/grease feeding cycles)
  
  Click here :Maxforce Ant Bait Stations to order




• 
  Advance375 A Ant Bait(for protein/grease feeding cycles)
  
  Click here :Advance 375 a to order





• 
  Maxforce Bait Granulars(for protein/grease feeding cycles)
  
  Click here :Maxforce Ant Bait Granules to order

The recommended products for the sugar eating cycle would be:

Intice Gelanimo Ant Bait for sweet cycles-not messy, particularly good for Odorous Ants)
Click here :Intice Gelanimo Ant Bait to order

Ant bait stations such as : ANT BAIT PLATES
small or large plastic cubes (that snap shut )that keep the gel or dry granulated bait inside, may serve to keep the baits intact.

FOR SMALL SIZED ANTS (feeds all the dietary needs:protein, grease and sugar)

Complete Ant Bait Kits: Small

Using Sprays for Ants:

Non Repellents For Outside Ant Control: Dominion 2L, Termidor and Phantom

Unless you can treat the nest directly, spraying is not an effective solution for small ants, unless you use a non repellent insecticides or "undetectable" liquid treatments such as Dominion 2L, Termidor or Phantom . Phantom liquid of aerosol are labeled for the inside. Optigard Flex is another very good non repellent labeled for inside for Argentine Ants(ants popular in California)

Dominion 2L and Termidor may not be used inside. Unlike older insecticides, non repellent insecticides can't be smelled, tasted, or even felt by pests. So they crawl through the treated area, not knowing that by ingesting treated materials or merely contacting the insecticide, they'll die.

Again, workers must eat the bait, take it back to the nest, and feed to the queen and larval ants. This type of control is incompatible with treatments(such as repellent sprays)that prevent workers from returning to the nest with the bait.

Since Dominion 2L (Same as Premise 2) is a non-repellents, carpenter ants , Pavement Ants and Argentine Ants can't detect it; instead, they come directly in contact with the active ingredient, - imidacloprid, without trailing in another area.

Dominion 2L is much more economical than Termidor , but is only labeled for Carpenter Ants, Argentine and Pavement Ants. Dominion 2L is not labeled for Fire ants, Pharaoh or harvester ants.

Phantom Insecticide and Phantom Aerosol For Inside and Outside Ant Control:

For Roach and Ant control inside use the non repellent insecticide product Phantom. Phantom will yield 8 gallons for ant control. It is highly suggested that you use a non repellent such as Termidor Sc for the outside in conjunction with the Phantom

Phantom is extremely effective when used alone, or in conjunction with other products such as ant baits. It will not repel pests, or cause them to avoid bait areas. Phantom treatments only require a small amount applied to problem areas to achieve ant control.

Phantom is long-lasting, and effective at controlling entire ant and roach populations at low doses. Phantom provides superior roach and ant control by striking ants inside your home where they cause the most trouble. But if you have an ant problem, the ants in your house probably have their nests outside-they travel back and forth

More Information: Phantom Termite/Insecticide

Phantom Aerosol-Convenient form of Phantom in a ready to use spray