The statement 'The primary food source for carpenter ants is wood' is true or false?

The statement 'The primary food source for carpenter ants is wood' is true or false?

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not sure
• D. Depends

Answer: (B)

Carpenter ants nest in wood, but wood isn’t their food. They excavate galleries in wood to create nesting spaces, and the wood serves as housing rather than a nutrition source. Their diet comes from sugars and proteins they obtain from other sources—honeydew from aphids, nectar, ripe fruit, and small insects. They don’t digest cellulose or feed on wood itself. For comparison, termites digest wood with gut microbes, which carpenter ants cannot do. So the statement is false.

Carpenter ants nest in wood, but wood isn’t their food. They excavate galleries in wood to create nesting spaces, and the wood serves as housing rather than a nutrition source. Their diet comes from sugars and proteins they obtain from other sources—honeydew from aphids, nectar, ripe fruit, and small insects. They don’t digest cellulose or feed on wood itself. For comparison, termites digest wood with gut microbes, which carpenter ants cannot do. So the statement is false.