![Pharaoh ants feeding in a circle around a yellow drop of Terro® liquid insecticide [240x240, 20K]](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3004/2764612504_69412623b4_m.jpg "Pharaoh Ants Take the Bait")
The Life Photo Meme theme this week is Free.
My subject are these nuisance little crazy ants that infest many homes (and hospitals) around the world. We’ve had them wandering freely around our house for a season now, despite our best efforts at non-chemical control. We’ve resorted to using a commercial insecticide called Terro®. The ants seem to like it. My identification of these insects is tentative, based on macrographic observations and behavior.
- Life Photo Meme
- Wikipedia:
Pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis)Ghost Ants (Tapinoma melanocephalum)
Lovely shot, but those aren’t pharaoh ants. They are ghost ants, Tapinoma melanocephalum, so named because the light color of their gaster makes them look like disembodied heads when running about on white surfaces. They are smaller, faster, and a bit more chunky than pharaoh ants.
Alex, thanks for the details. The photo is really not that good, but not bad considering it was taken with my iPhone.
mmm… this little fellows are a bit of a nightmare, aren’t they? I swear the thing are attracted by pesticides. they first started appearing in my home after I’d had it sprayed for carpenter ants.
Be sure to link back on the meme homepage so everyone can find you. We’ve had a surge of interest in the meme, but not so many people leaving their links in the comment section on the page, which makes it hard to find all these wonderful posts.