pharaoh ant

plural pharaoh ants

1. A small yellow-brown ant, Monomorium pharaonis, introduced to virtually every area of the world, considered to be a major indoor pest.

   Because the pharaoh ant eats a variety of items (it is an omnivore), it can survive on just about any crumb it finds.

   2013, Beatrix Beisner, Nature All Around Us: A Guide to Urban Ecology, page 39

   2 more examples

   It probably received the scientific name of "Pharaoh's ant" on account of a defective knowledge of Scripture on the part of its describer, who doubtless imagined that ants formed one of the plagues of Egypt in the time of Pharaoh, whereas the only entomological plagues mentioned were lice, flies and locusts.

   1889 May 25, “The Little Red Ant”, in Good Housekeeping, volume 9, number 2, page 26

   The pharaoh ant, Monomorium pharaonis, is one of the most persistent and pestiferous ants to invade the sanctity of hearth and home.

   1989, May Berenbaum, Ninety-nine Gnats, Nits, and Nibblers, page 19