Some ants are specialized in feeding on wood, using it as both a food source and a material for nesting. Unlike termites, which digest cellulose directly, these ants chew through wood primarily to create tunnels and chambers for their colonies. Their wood-eating behavior allows them to establish complex nests inside dead trees, fallen logs, and sometimes even wooden structures in human environments.
These ants are highly organized in their excavation efforts. Worker ants cooperate to carve out extensive networks of tunnels that serve as living spaces, nurseries, and storage areas. The tunnels also protect the colony from predators and environmental hazards, such as rain or extreme heat, making wood an ideal habitat for long-term survival.
Feeding on wood requires strong mandibles and careful coordination. Workers chew through the fibers to access the softer parts of the wood, often targeting decayed or weakened areas. While the wood itself provides limited nutrition, ants may also consume fungi, sap, or small insects found inside, supplementing their diet and sustaining large colonies.
Wood-eating ants play an important ecological role in forests. By breaking down dead and decaying wood, they contribute to nutrient cycling and soil enrichment. Their tunnels also allow air and moisture to penetrate fallen logs, helping other decomposers such as fungi and bacteria accelerate decomposition, which maintains the health of forest ecosystems.
Ants that Eat Wood
Black Carpenter Ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus)
This is the classic carpenter ant in North America. They do not eat wood but excavate smooth, gallery-like tunnels in damp, decaying, or sometimes sound wood to establish their nests. Their presence is often detected by piles of coarse sawdust-like frass, which contains insect parts, pushed out of the nest.
Florida Carpenter Ant (Camponotus floridanus)
A major pest in the southeastern United States, this large, reddish-black ant exhibits similar behavior to its northern cousin. They prefer to nest in hollow doors, walls, and structural wood, especially where moisture has caused decay. They are primarily nocturnal foragers.
Red Carpenter Ant (Camponotus ferrugineus)
Often confused with other red wood-nesting ants, this species is a primary excavator in forests, commonly nesting in dead logs and stumps. Their activities are crucial for decomposition in woodland ecosystems, breaking down dead wood and recycling nutrients.
Acrobat Ant (Crematogaster spp.)
Many Acrobat Ant species are opportunistic nesters in wood. They often take over and expand existing insect galleries in rotting wood, fence posts, and tree cavities. They are named for their unique defensive posture of raising their heart-shaped abdomens over their heads.
Velvety Tree Ant (Liometopum occidentale)
Found on the west coast of North America, these ants typically nest in dead wood, including tree stumps, logs, and sometimes structural lumber. They are aggressive, odorous when crushed, and are known for their foraging trails along tree branches and into homes.
Smaller Carpenter Ant (Camponotus nearcticus)
As the name implies, this is a relatively small carpenter ant species. They commonly nest within the pithy centers of plant stems and twigs, but will also excavate galleries in wooden structures, making them a occasional household pest.
Rasberry Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva)
This highly invasive ant does not excavate wood like carpenter ants, but it is notorious for nesting in virtually any available cavity, including inside rotting wood, electrical equipment, and walls. Their massive colonies can displace other species and cause short circuits.
Texas Leafcutter Ant (Atta texana)
While famous for cutting leaves to cultivate fungus, these ants build enormous underground nests that require the excavation of vast amounts of soil. This excavation often occurs in wooded areas, and their nest chambers can undermine roots and structures, showing a different form of “wood-destroying” activity.
Pavement Ant (Tetramorium immigrans)
While primarily soil-nesters under pavements and stones, these common ants will readily nest in moist, rotting wood that is in contact with the soil, such as landscape timbers or decaying logs. They are more opportunists than primary excavators.
Pharaoh Ant (Monomorium pharaonis)
A significant indoor pest, Pharaoh Ants do not eat or excavate wood. However, they are included here because they frequently establish nests in wall voids, behind baseboards, and in other structural cavities, often exploiting pre-existing cracks or damage in wood.
Singapore Ant (Monomorium destructor)
This invasive species is a true wood-damager, though not for nesting. They are known to chew through various materials, including the soft, rotting wood of structures and telephone poles, to expand their nesting space. They can also strip insulation from electrical wires, causing short circuits.
Larger Yellow Ant (Acanthomyops interjectus)
Also known as a Citronella Ant for its distinctive lemony odor, this species primarily nests in soil. However, they often excavate their nests underneath or within water-damaged wood, such as logs or structural timbers in contact with the ground, pushing piles of soil and wood particles out of their entrances.
Ghost Ant (Tapinoma melanocephalum)
These tiny ants are opportunistic nesters. While they don’t excavate wood themselves, they frequently colonize pre-existing cavities within wooden structures, such as the spaces between walls, window frames, and baseboards, especially if there is any existing moisture damage.
White-Footed Ant (Technomyrmex difficilis)
Similar to Ghost Ants, White-Footed Ants do not eat or excavate wood. They are notorious for forming massive colonies inside wall voids and other hollow spaces in structures, often exploiting cracks and imperfections in wood to gain access and establish their nests.
Thief Ant (Solenopsis molesta)
Named for their habit of nesting close to and stealing food from other ant colonies, Thief Ants are tiny and can nest in almost any small cavity. They commonly nest in rotting wood, behind wooden siding, or in wall voids, making them a common, though often overlooked, household pest.
Big-Headed Ant (Pheidole megacephala)
This invasive ant is a soil nester, but it will readily nest under and within rotting wood, such as logs, railroad ties, and landscape timbers. Their colonies are massive and their nesting can accelerate the decomposition of the wood they occupy.
Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile)
These common household ants get their name from the rotten coconut smell they emit when crushed. They do not damage sound wood but are frequent inhabitants of it, establishing their nests in wall voids, under floors, and within damp, rotting woodwork.
Rover Ant (Brachymyrmex spp.)
Several species of small, soft-bodied Rover Ants are known to nest in moist and decaying wood. They are common pests in the southern United States, where they colonize fence posts, fallen branches, and the wooden components of structures that have sustained water damage.
Longhorn Crazy Ant (Paratrechina longicornis)
This highly adaptable, erratic-moving ant nests in a vast array of locations. They frequently choose protected sites that include hollow trees, rotting logs, and the wooden structural elements of buildings, showing a clear preference for utilizing wooden spaces for shelter.
Argentine Ant (Linepithema humile)
While primarily nesting in soil, these supercolonial ants are opportunistic and will move their brood into any suitable, protected space. This often includes the moist, insulated environment found inside rotting logs, under the bark of trees, and within the wooden framing of structures.
European Fire Ant (Myrmica rubra)
This aggressive, stinging ant typically nests in soil but shows a strong preference for moist, organic-rich environments. They are commonly found nesting under and within rotting logs, stumps, and landscape timbers, where the decaying wood provides an ideal, humid microclimate for their brood.