bwahahahaha!

then it may already be too late

The tunnels that go deep have few chambers. I wonder if they are looking for water or a temperature gradient, down deep?
Or maybe they are drains for excess rain.

C'mon folks, there must be an ant expert lurking out there.:D

If those are harvester ants, which I think they are, they do that because they get attacked (isolation of the enemy), and the chambers are grow areas for their gardens. Keeping them separated is about always having resources regardless of what happens anywhere in the colony as well... it is never just for one reason. They go deep for temperature control as well, the queen goes deep with the eggs.
Their mounds are often mistaken for fire ants for some odd reason.
http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/urban/...vester_ant.htm
http://www.discover.com/issues/nov-0...-life-of-ants/

"Myrmecologist Walter Tschinkel of the University of Florida holds up a partial zinc cast of a seven-foot-deep Florida harvester-ant nest. The flat chambers are living quarters as well as storerooms for seeds, which the foraging harvesters collect, shuck, and deliver to the workers underground for stocking and sorting."

Ants nests are cool hanging in a museum/lab/type place, but the little bastards are costing me $350 to get 'em out of my house. That's the going rate around here for 3 treatments to get rid of carpenter ants. They apparently decided that we have done such a nice job fixing up our house, they are moving in too. Blech.

Why pay more
 

All you nead to get rid of ant is 1 to 10 borax and sugar mix with water and leave for the ants to find. takes 2 to 4 weaks 5 to 20 dolars and 10 minuts of work

I'm no chemist, but did you mean boric or maybe boron?

Wouldn't your concoction/solution be dangerous to other wildlife?

Just wonderin'.........

nope like the soap
 

Na2B4O7 -10H2O, Hydrated sodium borate

why just use boiling water? wont do much but would be more fun

Along those same lines, when I lived in Florida, I used 3:1 baking soda to sugar to get rid of the Paletto Bugs (aka roaches) without worrying about harm to my dog. He ate some once (ONCE!) and aside from some foaming at his mouth and a lot of burping he was fine. This was suggested by a vet so do not hesitate to try it with your insect problem. Children and household pets will be fine.

Brian

Actually, I see at least one tunnel connecting chambers on adjacent downlines. By this, I mean a ways down, rather than up high, where they are clearly connected.

I assumed the source of your potential fear was how they'd be able to know to dig across from chamber to chamber? Well, in at least one case, they did it in this example.

where? i cant see it?

.

i think thats just the angle. i dont believe they are connected, that chamber is coming towards the camera i think

Another pic. If it is connected, it would explain why that one tunnel doesn't go as deep as the other three. :confused: