About Cephalotes minutus (Fabricius, 1804)
Cephalotes minutus is an arboreal ant species belonging to the genus Cephalotes. Members of this species have an unusually shaped head, and can steer their fall to parachute if they drop from the tree they inhabit. This trait gives the group the common name of gliding ants. This species is native to a large portion of Central and South America. Its native range extends south to the Argentinian region of Corrientes, north to the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, and even further north to the American state of Texas. This range makes Cephalotes minutus one of the species with the largest native area within its genus. Like other members of the genus Cephalotes, Cephalotes minutus has larger, flatter legs, and this trait gives the species its gliding ability. The species was first described and classified in 1804 by Danish entomologist Johan Christian Fabricius. Cephalotes minutus is included in Fabricius' classification work, which constitutes the first modern classification of insects.
