rockm

Lighting conditions are nowhere near the same indoors, unless you have a greenhouse. Indoors, even near a window, are more than 50 percent dimmer than outdoors.

This doesn't sound like the problem though if the branches are shriveling. If you're letting the soil dry a bit between waterings, the interior soil can sometimes become bone dry. This can happen when a plant is extremely root bound, or the soil is too fine and/or broken down. Once the interior soil dries in such conditions, it can become extremely hard to re-wet. To find out if this is the case, tip the plant root ball up from within the pot. Unless it was repotted in the last year, it should come up as a solid mass. Poke a few roots aside, examine the interior. It should not be dry inside there.

Additionally, ants are a symptom of either aphids or scale on your tree. If they have colonized your plant pot, it can also mean the soil is dried out--ants avoid soggy conditions to make thier colonies. Ants do no direct harm to the plant, but the "farm" these pests for their sugar secretions. Look carefully on the plant for scale. They look like little barnacles on the stems and limbs. If you see them, poke them with a wire end. Do this until all are dead.