Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 19, 2026

Cephalotes complanatus

Cephalotes complanatus is a species of arboreal ant of the genus Cephalotes, characterized by an odd shaped head, and the ability to "parachute" by steering their fall if they drop off of the tree they're on. Giving their name also as gliding ants.

Last revised
Jul 19, 2026
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≈ 1 min
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Citations
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Source
Cephalotes complanatus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Genus: Cephalotes
Species:
C. complanatus
Binomial name
Cephalotes complanatus

Cephalotes complanatus is a species of arboreal ant of the genus Cephalotes, characterized by an odd shaped head, and the ability to "parachute" by steering their fall if they drop off of the tree they're on. Giving their name also as gliding ants.12

It was first identified and classified by the French entomologist Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville, in 1844.3

References

References

  1. Latreille, P.A. (1802). Histoire naturelle, generale et particuliere des crustaces et des insectes. Vol. 3. F. Dufart, Paris. 467 pp. PDF
  2. Yanoviak, S. P.; Munk, Y.; Dudley, R. (2011). "Evolution and Ecology of Directed Aerial Descent in Arboreal Ants". Integrative and Comparative Biology. 51 (6): 944–956. doi:10.1093/icb/icr006. PMID 21562023.
  3. "Cephalotes complanatus (Guérin-Méneville, 1844)".