Carpenter ants are common throughout the temperate rain forests of the Pacific Northwest and they live in the lower- to mid-canopy of the forest. They are the number one food source for Pileated woodpeckers.  Carpenter ants bore into moist, decaying wood, forming an extensive network of tunnels where the Queen ant can lay her eggs. As a result of their burrowing, they leave behind excrement called Frazz.  The frazz then falls to the forest floor where it is decomposed by microscopic organisms and becomes soil.  Carpenter ants feed on insects, pollen, sap, and seeds.  Some carpenter ants share a unique relationship with aphids.  Like shown in this picture, the two organisms can live together in a state of symbiosis.  The ants protect the aphids from predacious insects and in exchange for the protection, the aphids feed the carpenter ants some of their honey that is produced as a waste product from feeding on plant leaves.
 

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Photo by Jon Preston; Reprinted 
with permission from Olympic 
National Park.