log, or stump and seal themselves in. Here they rear their first 
broods of workers to maturity on salivary secretions. These 
workers, being inadequately fed, are smaller than normal. Subse- 
quent broods are fed by the workers, and individuals are larger. 
Long-established colonies contain workers of various sizes, some 
of which are extraordinarily large. Such colonies may consist of 
a reproductive female, scores of winged males and virgin females, 
and several thousand workers. 
Tightly-constructed houses with concrete foundations, good 
clearance, and full basements are fairly safe from invasion by 
black carpenter ants. The removal of all wood from near or under 
a house site prior to construction, making certain that infested 
wood is not brought into the house, and the cutting back of 
branches in contact with the house are also helpful in preventing 
infestations in buildings. 
The red carpenter ant, Camponotus ferrugineus (Fab.), occurs 
over much of the same portion of the United States as the black 
carpenter ant, but it is apparently less common. It appears to 
prefer wooded areas where it normally nests in or beneath well- 
rotted logs and stumps. Under these conditions, it often extends 
its galleries for considerable distances in the soil. Nests are also 
found in dead, standing trees and apparently, rarely in houses. 
The workers are about the same size as those of the black car- 
penter ant. Most of the thorax, petiole, base of the gaster, and 
much of the legs are yellowish ferruginous. The remainder is 
black. Hairs and pubescence are more golden yellow than those of 
the black carpenter ant, especially on the gaster. This species has 
caused considerable damage to standing white cedar in Minnesota 
(305). 
The Florida carpenter ant, Camponotus abdominalis floridanus 
(Buckley), occurs from North Carolina to Florida and Alabama. 
It is one of the most important house-infesting species in Florida. 
Workers are about 5.5 to 10 mm. long. The head is reddish, the 
thorax and petiole yellowish or yellowish-red, the scape and gaster 
blackish or black, and the body is covered with many long yel- 
lowish hairs. This species builds its nests in various places such 
as in the ground beneath objects, in dead branches in trees, in 
and beneath rotting logs and stumps, and sometimes in the wood- 
work of porches, roofs, kitchen sinks, and paneling. Outdoors, the 
ants feed largely on living and dead small insects, and on honey- 
dew which they secure by tending aphids, mealybugs, and scales. 
Indoors, they feed on such items as molasses, honey, and liver. 
Camponotus nearcticus Emery usually nests in small colonies 
in dead twigs and branches of trees, in or beneath the bark of 
dead and living trees, in insect galls and pine cones, in the hollow 
stems of plants, and in wooden posts. Nests have also been found 
in the woodwork of houses, especially in roofing. It occurs from 
New York to Ontario, North Dakota and Colorado and south to 
Mississippi and Florida. Workers are about 4.5 to 7.5 mm. long, 
and their bodies are usually black and rather shiny. 
Camponotus rasilis Wheeler occurs from South Carolina to 
Florida and Texas, but is apparently most common in the Gulf 
Coast States. It nests in small colonies in tunnels made by borers 
in the twigs and branches of various hardwoods; in insect galls; 
489 
