Do ants make trees unsafe?

[Guy Meilleur]

Some talk from another thread: "Now, sapsucker holes can invite all forms of little creepies to get in there and munch away at wood, among other things; and that can , and around here anyways, usually does lead to the eventual demise of the tree.

And if you really think that ants never make trees unsafe, you're not as smart as I thought you were."

I've seen carpenter ants expand cavities slightly, but never to the point of hazard. I've never seen a case where any other kind of ant caused any kind of harm to a tree.
Have I missed something here?
What is your experience with ants?

 

[Scars2prove-it]

I've seen many trees damaged by Carpenter ants, especially cherry's. There is a tree in the tropics, I can't recall where, that needs a certain type of ant to inhabit it in order to survive. The ants keep other insects away and clip off vines.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hey, that's cool!

 

[begleytree]

I believe that ants point to a more serious problem. I don't believe that ants attack a perfectly healthy tree, and as such, cause it's untimely demise. I believe that other factors, such as topping in maples, cause weakness and decay which the ants take advantage of and help the decay problem along. In my example I don't believe an injection of imicide will cure all the tree's ills, but is a good place to start. I have removed maples (our most ant prone, and topping prone trees here) and only saw where the ants were working within the area of decay, or adjecent to it, but were absent in the healthy outer regions of the tree.

Ralph -who hates carrying wood with ants in it

 

[Dadatwins]

Think they are more opportunist than cause. Do not think ants will simply find a solid tree with healthy tissue and start attacking. Any open wounds, rips, etc will usually become home for some ants and my opinion is they can help contribute to a tree demise, but only as a secondary problem. Interesting topic since a lot of homeowners claim that ants are killing their trees but I think by the time the ants have taken residence a simple problem that may have been corrected earlier has probably escalated.

 

[arboromega]

ants can definitely be pest but are no the casue of problems...just a symptom. they can also be used as an indicator species to help id some other issues in and around the tree.

 

[Gord]

i would say that they can definitely make trees more unsafe. i've seen a few firs and hemlocks around here fail in areas hollowed out by insects. had the dead wood not been removed they likely would still be standing. carpenter ants are an excellent indication of rot in douglas-firs especially.

 

[a_lopa]

whats your take guy or are we sitting on the fence as usual

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

Sometimes when carpenter ants get angry, the DO bite. Anything that bites makes a tree more dangerous.

Riddle me this.....

They don't "eat" wood do they?? How do they break down the cellulose??

I thought they merely excavated in deadwood to make galleries for living/reproduction

What do they eat???

(I have my answer ready)


There are MANY perfectly healthy OLD trees that have ants living in them.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

There might not be any old trees that don't have them living in them!

:alien:

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

http://www.ipmofalaska.homestead.com/files/carpantsintrees.html

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by aussie_lopa
whats your take guy or are we sitting on the fence as usual

Sitting on a fence sounds very uncomfortable.

I answered #3, and I wonder if those who have seen trees fail at defects where ants resided really know wheher the ants caused the defect. Maybe they were just innocent residents.

Answer #4 was for you, lopa, I'm still waiting to find out what kind of vicious those Aussie ants are. Over here I've dissected carpenter ant nests and it's evident that they expanded the cavities, but how much or how fast is uncertain.

Nathan's link on them was good info, in line with other info I've seen. And KC's right; every old tree has ants but no old tree I've ever seen has been made unsafe by them. Erik must be sitting this one out while he's logging those doomed trees with sapsucker holes in them. :blush:

 

[Guy Meilleur]

Originally posted by Nathan Wreyford
Riddle me this.....

They don't "eat" wood do they?? How do they break down the cellulose??

I've heard that carpeneter ants in particular secrete an acidic "sweat" that dissolves the cellulose. but I never checked to see if that was true.

 

[a_lopa]

what about trunk bulge? when they get in a cavity and call it home,i wouldnt say thats benificial to the tree,or saftey issues.

 

[a_lopa]

these ants arnt good for a tree:angel:

 

[a_lopa]

these little buggers brought the tree u cd rom

 

[MasterBlaster]

Jason!

You been in the garage, whore whut?

 

[a_lopa]

you damm right i have

 

[MasterBlaster]

And why wouldn't ya, eh?

 

[a_lopa]

webcam?