Identify Your Pest Crawling insects Pharaoh ant
Pharaoh ant
Monomorium pharaonis · Also called: Pharaoh’s ant
Pharaoh ants are tiny, pale yellow ants from warm climates that can only survive in Alberta inside heated buildings. They are noticed in apartments, hospitals and food businesses, where large colonies spread quietly through walls and pipes.
Size Workers about 1.5 to 2 mm long
Colour Honey yellow to tan, often with a brownish rear body
Key feature Very small and pale; two waist bumps; last three antenna segments thick
Season Year round inside heated buildings
Where Warm spots near pipes, cabinets and baseboards, often in shared buildings
What it looks like
Pharaoh ants are so small that a trail can look like a faint moving line. The body is honey yellow to tan, and the rear of the abdomen is often brownish. A hand lens shows two bumps at the waist, and the last three antenna segments are thicker than the rest.
Trails are slow and steady and tend to follow pipes, wires and cabinet edges. The nest itself is hard to find. Look where warmth and moisture meet, such as near hot water lines, dishwashers or heating units, and inside stored boxes or papers. Winged ants are rarely seen, because Pharaoh ants mate inside the nest instead of swarming outdoors.
Often confused with
Thief ant
Odorous house ant
Signs to look for
Tiny pale ants in trails
Ants inside food packages
Ants near warmth and water
Ants spreading to new rooms
Risks and damage
Pharaoh ants do not bite people and do not damage buildings. The concern is hygiene. A worker may visit a sink drain or garbage bin and then walk over food, dishes or counters. That is why hospitals, apartment buildings and food businesses take them seriously. Colonies can grow very large and are hard to remove.
In Alberta
Pharaoh ants cannot survive an Alberta winter outdoors, but they can live year round inside heated buildings. They are an introduced species here. They can turn up in apartment and condo buildings, hospitals and food businesses in Alberta cities, including Edmonton.
Pharaoh ants can mark an empty branch of a trail with a scent that works like a no entry sign. Other workers avoid that branch, which helps the colony reach food faster.
How to keep them out
Avoid sprays and foggers
Seal all food
Clean up crumbs and grease
Fix leaks
Tell your building manager
When it is time to bring in a professional
Get professional help early for Pharaoh ants. Their colonies have many queens and split when disturbed, so store-bought sprays often make things worse. In apartment buildings, treating all affected units together works better. Technica’s licensed technicians use patient, targeted methods suited to this ant.
Frequently asked questions
Why shouldn't I spray Pharaoh ants?
Pharaoh ant colonies have many queens. When a spray or strong cleaner disturbs them, groups of workers and queens move off and start new nests. One problem area can turn into several. Slow, targeted treatment by a professional helps avoid this.
Where do Pharaoh ants come from?
They are a warm-climate species that has spread around the world with people and goods. In Alberta they cannot survive outdoors, so they live only in heated buildings. They can arrive in boxes, food shipments, furniture or plants moved from an infested building.
I rent an apartment. What should I do about Pharaoh ants?
Tell your landlord or building manager right away and avoid spraying. In Alberta, landlords are responsible for keeping rental housing free of pests. Pharaoh ants move between units, so a building-wide plan works better than treating one suite on its own.