This species prefers dry forest or scrubby habitats. It nests in live or dead stems. I have the following nest collections:
Nest in dead stick.
A sprawling vine had soft pith and was commonly inhabited by ants. A series of nest collections made, all from live stems.
Small treefall that had been down long enough for leaves to be dry and brown. Nest in hard dead wood.
Mexico to Brazil (Kempf 1958). Costa Rica: seasonally dry portions of Guanacaste and Puntarenas Provinces.
Taxonomic history
Emery, 1894d PDF: 212 (s.q.); Emery, 1896h PDF: 635 (m.); Wheeler & Wheeler, 1973b PDF: 79 (l.).Combination in Cryptocerus (Cyathocephalus): Emery, 1915g PDF: 192.Combination in Cryptocerus (Cyathomyrmex): Creighton, 1933 PDF: 100.Combination in Paracryptocerus (Cyathomyrmex): Kempf, 1958a: 150.Combination in Zacryptocerus: Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387.Combination in Cephalotes: De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 493.Status as species: Guérin-Méneville, 1844a PDF: 426; Smith, 1853 PDF: 218; Smith, 1858a PDF: 192; Smith, 1862d PDF: 411; Mayr, 1863a PDF: 406; Roger, 1863b PDF: 38; Dalla Torre, 1893 PDF: 143; Emery, 1894d PDF: 212; Forel, 1895b PDF: 134; Emery, 1896h PDF: 635; Forel, 1899b PDF: 51; Forel, 1909a PDF: 257; Forel, 1911g PDF: 257; Emery, 1924f PDF: 311; Borgmeier, 1927c PDF: 119; Menozzi, 1927c PDF: 268; Wheeler, 1942 PDF: 209; Kempf, 1958a: 150 (redescription); Kempf, 1972b PDF: 179; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387; Bolton, 1995b: 426; De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 493 (redescription); Branstetter & Sáenz, 2012 PDF: 257; Guénard & Economo, 2015 10.11646/zootaxa.4040.2.8: 227; Sandoval-Gómez & Sánchez-Restrepo, 2019 PDF: 912.Senior synonym of Cephalotes araneolus: Emery, 1894d PDF: 212; Emery, 1896h PDF: 635; Forel, 1899b PDF: 51; Emery, 1924f PDF: 311; Kempf, 1958a: 151; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 179; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387; Bolton, 1995b: 426; De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 493.Senior synonym of Cephalotes discocephalus: Emery, 1894d PDF: 212; Emery, 1896h PDF: 635; Forel, 1899b PDF: 51; Kempf, 1958a: 151; Kempf, 1972b PDF: 179; Brandão, 1991 PDF: 387; Bolton, 1995b: 426; De Andrade & Baroni Urbani, 1999 PDF: 493.
Cephalotes pallens 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]
Cephalotes pallens 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.
