Davis : Nests of Carpenter Ant i i 



The constricted part of the nest was caused partly by the 

 presence of a small knot, and it is quite evident that the division 

 of the nest into what Dr. McCook aptly styles columnar and 

 cavernous galleries was intentional on the part of the ants. In 

 the cavernous portion there were a few vertical tunnels, often 

 quite wide and curved somewhat with the annual rings of the 

 tree, and these led to or through many chambers that had irregu- 

 lar floors and ceilings. There were sometimes also little rooms in 

 the most unexpected places in the thickened parts between the 

 ceiling of one of the large chambers and the floor of the one 

 above. When the portion of the trunk containing this part of 

 the nest was split vertically along some of the broad tunnels, 

 projections like bay windows were revealed, having little holes 

 in their sides leading to small chambers within. 



Later a scarlet oak which contained a nest of the carpenter ant 

 was found in the woods near Richmond. The tree was decayed 

 near the base; it had been felled by lumbermen and had been 

 sawed into several lengths before they came to the good portion 

 of the trunk above the workings of the ants. With the assis- 

 tance of Mr. James Chapin we sawed the logs, which were about 

 fifteen inches in diameter, into shorter lengths, some of which we 

 vsplit lengthwise. As in the case of the pine tree nest, the ants had 

 clung to their home in spite of the great disaster which had be- 

 fallen them. They moved about very slowly, as it was late in the 

 fall. When they were examined with a magnifying glass little 

 mites were found clinging to their legs. It would appear very 

 difficult for these mites to maintain their places considering their 

 exposed position. This nest also consisted of a lower portion 

 of finely drilled wood, so frail that a considerable part was re- 

 moved quite easily. The largest and broadest tunnel occupied 

 nearly the middle of the trunk and there were others within two 

 inches of the outer bark. Probably owing to the different char- 

 acter of the wood, the columnar portion of the nest did not con- 

 sist of paperlike partitions as in the white pine, but was carved 

 out most thoroughly, leaving very little wood, which was also 

 quite brittle. Dr. E. P. Felt has mentioned the different char- 



