ANTS IN CEDAR POLES 33 
MetTHop or WorK 
So far as observed, the carpenter ant never attacks a perfectly 
sound tree, but always gains entrance through a wound or a decayed 
spot. At first thought it would seem that this habit would result in a 
scarcity of suitable nesting places and that the spread of the ants would 
be limited by this factor to such an extent as to make their injury 
negligible. This would probably be true if it were not for the fact 
that in Minnesota less than five per cent of the white cedar of pole 
size is sound, and many trees which appear sound on the stump have 
injured or diseased areas near the ground. Thus almost every cedar 
of pole size is a fit subject for ant attack. 
hy u es ee a +P: 
Fig. 5. Ant nest in cedar butt. X shows the position of a window. 
After the colony has been established in a tree, the ants usually 
work well above the rotten area into the sound heart wood, honey- 
combing the tree with longitudinal galleries until there is often only 
a thin shell of solid wood around the nest. Where the main nest 1s 
located, they cut openings to the outside, frequently following out a 
knot, through which the sawdust may be cast and through which the 
inhabitants may pass to and from the nest. These openings, which 
are known in the woods as “windows,” make it easy to locate the posi- 
tion of the nest without cutting into a tree, since the nest never extends 
far above the topmost window. 
