This species is common and extremely generalized in its habitat preferences and nesting habits. Workers may be found in the canopy of primary rainforest, in tropical dry forest, in scrubby roadside vegetation, and in mangroves. It can nest in live or dead stems. The stems in which it nests are often very narrow, as small as 3mm diameter. Nests may be found in specialized ant-plants such as bull's horn Acacia (Mann 1922) and Cordia alliodora, but its use of these plants is purely facultative (Kempf 1952).
Adams (1990) found that C. maculatus had a parabiotic association with Azteca trigona in mangrove forests of Panama. The abstract states:
In mangrove forests on the Atlantic coast of Panama, the arboreal ant Zacryptocerus maculatus was positively associated with territorial ants in the genus Azteca. Systematic sampling showed that this association was not caused by shared preference for the same size or species of tree. Furthermore, Z. maculatus was not forced to live within territories of Azteca by being excluded from the territories of other abundant ants. Instead, the association appeared to be caused by direct interactions between colonies of Azteca and Z. maculatus. When in the presence of A. trigona, colonies of Z. maculatus engaged in an unusual form of social parasitism. Workers followed pheromone trails deposited by scouts of A. trigona in order to locate newly discovered food sources. In effect, Z. maculatus parasitizes the foraging efforts of A. trigona by reading information contained within its recruitment signals. Z. maculatus workers were able to gain access to these resources because of their stealthy approach and unusual body armor. Observations on related ants suggest that this parasitic habit is shared by other species of Zacryptocerus within the subgenus Harnedia.
I have the following records of nest collections:
Roadside at edge of wet forest. Workers in 3mm dia soft dead stem. In dense tangle of dead vines and branches.
A Croton tree with attached Ficus strangler was a corner fencepost surrounded by pasture and low second growth. The tree was dominated by an Azteca colony, and contained many other species of arboreal ants. The C. maculatus nest was in a dead branch.
In narrow channels running through 11mm dia dead stick.
Collecting in 4-day old treefall, these collections around a big branch of Stryphnodendron excelsum, some smaller Pentaclethra macroloba branches, and a tangled mass of Norantea sessilis. There were two Cephalotes nests in different parts of a live Norantea stem. One stem was 12mm and the other 15mm in diameter. In the field I thought they were part of one polydomous colony, because they were in such close proximity, but I later discovered that one nest was C. curvistriatus and the other was C. maculatus.
Pasture/road edge. Sample of nodes from Cordia alliodora trees. Entrance holes of C. maculatus were round, but not as perfectly circular as those of C. setulifer (an obligate inhabitant of C. alliodora). The insides of the nodes were clean, brown, with no Homoptera. Two nodes had lone dealate queens, and no brood. Two other nodes had brood and workers, and were no doubt part of larger polydomous colony.
Canopy Inga treefall. A nest was in the center of a live stem, stem dia. 14mm, at the very top of the tree. A single round hole extended perpendicularly from the surface to a central cavity, which extended in both directions. The cavity was 5.5cm long and 3mm wide. The nest contained only a major, one mature worker, one callow worker, and 7 individual brood, ranging from a very small larva to a pupa.
Roadside vegetation, in full sun; nesting in dead Cordia alliodora nodes.
Collecting from Carapa guianensis, felled day before; tree was somewhat isolated in low second growth vegetation; abundant vines in treefall, mainly Marcgraviaceae. Nest in narrow-gauge dead stem.
One-day old clearing of young second growth forest; the large area of felled small trees was dominated by Crematogaster cf. parabiotica. A Cordia alliodora tree was largely occupied by Crematogaster, but a few nodes contained Cephalotes. Some nodes were C. setulifer, but at least one node contained C. maculatus.
Throughout the mainland Neotropics, from Mexico to Argentina. Costa Rica: common throughout the lowlands, both dry and wet forest habitats.
Taxonomic history
[Misspelled as masculatus by Mann, 1922 PDF: 34.].Emery, 1894d PDF: 208 (s.w.); Forel, 1905e PDF: 158 (m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1954b PDF: 156 (l.).Combination in Paracryptocerus (Harnedia): Kempf, 1952 PDF: 18.Combination in Zacryptocerus: Hespenheide, 1986: 395.Combination in Cephalotes: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 375.Status as species: Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 143; Emery, 1894d PDF: 208; Forel, 1895b PDF: 133; Forel, 1899b PDF: 50; Forel, 1905e PDF: 158; Forel, 1911g PDF: 258; Forel, 1912f PDF: 201; Forel, 1914d PDF: 281; Bruch, 1915 PDF: 530; Wheeler, 1916c PDF: 11; Mann, 1916 PDF: 450; Crawley, 1916b PDF: 372; Wheeler, 1918b PDF: 26; Mann, 1922 PDF: 34; Wheeler, 1922e PDF: 11; Emery, 1924f PDF: 311; Borgmeier, 1927c PDF: 118; Menozzi, 1927c PDF: 268; Menozzi, 1927d PDF: 336; Kempf, 1952 PDF: 18 (redescription); Kusnezov, 1953c PDF: 338; Kempf, 1958a: 18; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 178; Kempf, 1974a PDF: 73 (in key); Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387; Bolton, 1995b: 426; De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 375 (redescription); Wild, 2007b PDF: 32; Branstetter & Sáenz, 2012 PDF: 257; Bezděčková et al., 2015 PDF: 116; Sandoval-Gómez & Sánchez-Restrepo, 2019 PDF: 912.Senior synonym of Cephalotes grandinosus magdalenensis: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 375.Senior synonym of Cephalotes maculatus nanus: Kempf, 1952 PDF: 19; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 178; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387; Bolton, 1995b: 426; De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 375.Canindeyú , Central, Ñeembucú , Paraguarí , Pte. Hayes (ALWC, IFML, INBP, LACM). Literature records: Central, Cordillera, “Paraguay” (s. loc.) (de Andrade & Baroni-Urbani 1999, Emery 1894a, Forel 1911g).
Cephalotes maculatus 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.[1][2] The species is native across most of the South and Central America, from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas in the north, to the Argentinian province of Tucumán in the south, making it one of the species with the largest native area in the genus Cephalotes[3] Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus Cephalotes, gives them their gliding abilities.[4]
The species was first given a description and a classification in 1876 by British entomologist Frederick Smith.
Cephalotes maculatus 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. The species is native across most of the South and Central America, from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas in the north, to the Argentinian province of Tucumán in the south, making it one of the species with the largest native area in the genus Cephalotes Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus Cephalotes, gives them their gliding abilities.
The species was first given a description and a classification in 1876 by British entomologist Frederick Smith.
