On Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:39:35 -0700 (PDT), Red wrote:

On Aug 9, 10:11*am, Norminn wrote:

Okay, first of all carpenter ants are NOT similar in size to fire ants.
* CAs are much larger. *CAs nest in damaged/rotted wood, indoors or out,
and including old termite tunnels.


Thank you. I was going to say the same thing. The only thing fire
ants & CA's have in common is the reddish brown color, otherwise they
are as different as day & night. Which makes me wonder what the OP
really has problems with.

The carpenter ant's I'm (too) familiar with are jet black.

I live rural and have cedar trees dying all over the place. Almost
every one has CA's nesting in the trunk. I'm wondering at what stage
they're invading the trees, causing the tree to die in order to have a
nesting site or moving in after it dies? The trees are definitely not
rotted as standing cedar rarely rots. especially not this many 6-10"
diameter trees.

Carpenter ants need water. The nest in places that are already compromised
but they take it downhill fast from there.