Cephalotes nilpiei
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Subfamily: Myrmicinae
Genus: Cephalotes
Species:
C. nilpiei
Binomial name
Cephalotes nilpiei
De Andrade, 1999

Cephalotes nilpiei 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 of the Brazilian states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro.[3] Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus Cephalotes, gives them their gliding abilities and eases their arboreal movement.[4]

The species was first given a description and a classification in 1845 by French entomologist Félix Édouard Guérin-Méneville. Guérin-Méneville erroneously classed the specimen he described as a member of the species Cephalotes pinelii. Brazilian entomologist Maria de Andrade studied the species once again in 1999 and gave it the name nilpiei, an anagram of pinelii. The closest relative of nilpiei is Cephalotes pineili.[5]

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. ↑ "Species Range Maps". Antmaps.org. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  4. ↑ De Andrade, Maria; Urbani, Cesare (1999). Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Stuttgarter Beitraege zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Palaeontologie). pp. 384-387. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  5. ↑ De Andrade, Maria; Urbani, Cesare (1999). Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Stuttgarter Beitraege zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Palaeontologie). pp. 384. Retrieved 29 January 2019.


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