The Pharaoh ant is a major indoor pest and has the ability to survive most conventional household pest control treatments. Pharaoh ants can take advantage of artificial heating in buildings to survive the winter. The best sign are the small amber-colored workers as they forage along surfaces.

This ant infests almost all areas of a building where food is available and infests many areas where food is not commonly found. Infestations commonly occur in food service areas. Pharaoh ants have a wide preference in the types of food consumed. In infested areas, if sweet, fatty, or oily foods are left uncovered for only a short period of time, one can likely find a trail of Pharaoh ants to the food.

They will nest in well-protected and hidden areas throughout a structure, but they can also nest outdoors in lawns or gardens in warm climates. Pharaoh ants can build nests in walls, cabinet voids, behind baseboards, refrigerator insulation, the hollows of curtain rods, the folds of clothes, sheets and paper and other undisturbed dark spaces.