Pharaoh ant site. Pharaoh ant colonies appear to prefer familiar nests to novel nests while budding. This suggests the ability for colonies to remember certain qualities of their living space. However, if the novel (unfamiliar) nest is of superior quality, the colony may initially move toward the familiar, but will eventually select the unfamiliar. The colony assumes the familiar nest is preferable, unless they sense better qualities in the novel nest. This decision-making process seeks to minimize the time the colony is without a nest while optimizing the nest the colony finally chooses. The number of available budding locations has a large
Green-head ant out and forage to support their young. Another way colonies are formed is through budding, where a subset of the colony leaves the main colony for an alternative nest site. The green-head ant is known for its painful and venomous sting that can cause anaphylactic shock in sensitive humans. However, they can also be beneficial to humans, acting as a form of pest control by preying on agricultural pests such as beetles, moths and termites. The green-head ant was first described in 1858 by British entomologist Frederick Smith in his "Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British