tree damage from ants?

[daemon2525]

Hi, I'm new and NOT a professional tree dude. However I have been lurking for months and learning how to take care of my own, (new home), and my many huge trees. And for what i have learned, I thank you.

My question, I have a couple of trees that are developing cavities at ground level from small red ants. The cavities are just large enough to hide a soda can inside the tree. The cavity has what looks like tiny wood pellets from these ants. These wood things actually spill out onto the ground around the tree. Is there anything that I can spray to kill them?

And are cavities of this size really anything to worry about? I want to save all of the trees that I can.

thanks,
Larry....

 

[Jay Banks]

Small cavities bear watching because they are an indication that there may be larger issues inside the tree. Mainly structural.

The wood "chips" are dropped by the activity of critters within the decay zone. For the most part the tree has walled off "compartmentalized" the decay from sound wood.

Now that you have studied the lower trunk, keep an eye on the canopy above. Watch for dieback from the outer portions of the tree. These are good indicators that the tree is ok or declining.

 

[John Paul McMillin]

Alot of things will kill the ants but the ants are not damaging your trees. Your trees probably had some mechanical damage from the construction and wounded the base of the trees . The ants moved into the decayed area . they will push out the decayed wood as they build tunnels but they are not going to damage the live wood. astro. orthene or sevin will kill the ants it you dont want them there. John

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

As stated above, the annt feed on decay, or make therer home of it. Some think that they actualy help limit the spread of decay, but that is debatable.

We talk sometimes of two tree being in front of us; the dynamic and the structural. We can have structural defects in a large tree that is dynamiclay healty and growing with vitality. Some of these trees can have a high risk of failure, many do not.

If you have kids playing around these trees, or they are near your house, invest in some peace of mind and have several consulting arborists do a risk evaluation of the trees.

Multiple disinterested opininons are usefull learning tools as well as confidance builders.

Find one here http://www.asca-consultants.org/.

 

[daemon2525]

Thanks for the advice. The trees seem healthy, So i'll just let them be. I just needed to convince my wife (and myself) that the ants were not harming the trees, otherwise she'd have me out killing them all summer.

There has been no mechanical damage to the trees, I said new home, but it's "new to me" , actually about 40 years old I think.

Anyway, thanks again, And I was curious if any of the members are from NE indiana?