The Black/ Garden Ant does not pose any health risk to humans, but they can be a serious nuisance when entering buildings.
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LIFE CYCLE: 38 – 45 days, each Pharoah’s Ant colony can have multiple queens, each laying up to 400 eggs over her lifetime.
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LENGTH: 1.5mm – 2mm.
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APPEARANCE: brownish yellow in colour and significantly smaller than the Black Ant.
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HABITAT & HABITS: In most cases in the uk, Pharoah’s Ant colonies are found indoors as they need warm humid conditions to survive, they can be found in a variety of locations such as hotels, residential blocks, food handling premises, hospitals, etc. Gaining control of a Pharoah’s Ant infestation can be a long process due to the fact they are prone to splinter away from the initial colony.
In the UK the two main species of Pest Ant we come across are the Common Black/ Garden Ant and the Pharoah’s Ant, both cover a wide area in search of food, and once found are seen trailing to and from their nest.
Black Ants (lasius niger)
Pharaoh's Ant (Monomorium Pnaraonis)
Ants
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LIFE CYCLE: 50 – 70 days, each Black Ant colony has around 5,000 Worker Ants and a single queen. A queens life span can be up to 12 years.
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LENGTH: 2mm – 5mm.
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APPEARANCE: Black / Dark brown.
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HABITAT & HABITS: Normally found nesting under paving, in and around wall/ floor areas, etc
The Pharaoh’s Ant is however, a different matter, they pose a health risk to humans by transmitting pathogens due to feeding in unhygienic areas such as drains and food waste bins, etc making infestations in sterile environments particularly important to control.
