Biology:
The colonies tend to be large with workers numbering in the thousands to several hundred thousand. New nests can be formed by "budding" with as few as 5 workers, 10 pre adults and one Queen migrating from the original colony. Development time from egg to adult for workers is about 38 days at 27°C. workers live about 9-10 weeks and males die about 3-5 weeks after mating. More than a dozen pathogenic bacteria have been found on Pharaoh ants collected in hospitals.

Habits:
Inside Pharaoh ants nest in warm 30°C and humid areas near sources of food and water. Nests are usually located in inaccessible places such as wall voids, under floorboards, in furniture etc. They commonly use electrical and telephone wires as a highway system to travel through walls and between floors. The ants are common problems in commercial food handling places such as hotels, grocery stores, hospitals and in apartment complexes.

Reasons for Control:
Prevention of diseases, contamination of goods and products, loss of goodwill and loss of quality.