What causes there are carpenter ants in my tree trunk?
The decay they colonize starts at an entry point: an old topping cut or flush cut, a storm-broken limb, a mower wound at the base, a lightning scar, or a fork that collects water. Fungi soften that wood over years and the colony moves in. Trees topped a decade or more ago are a common source, since every topping cut leaves a wound too large for the tree to seal.
What you'd see
Large black or black-and-red ants, a quarter inch or bigger, trailing steadily up and down the trunk, most visible at dusk. Small piles of coarse sawdust at the base or caught in bark crevices, mixed with insect body parts. A hollow sound when you knock on the lower trunk. Sometimes winged ants swarming from the trunk in spring — pinched waist and elbowed antennae, which is how you separate them from termites.
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