Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant. Tucson, Arizona, USA - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography - Insect Pictures

Arboreal Ants: Life in the Treetops

In the warmer regions of the world, a rich and colorful ant fauna lives entirely in the trees.

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A young foundress queen of Cephalotes grandinosus, showing the plate on her head that she uses to block the nest entrance.

Isla Contadora, Panama

Cephalotes atratus

Gamboa, Panama

The adult form of this treehopper (bottom left) mimics the abdomen of the Cephalotes atratus ants that tend it for honeydew.

Morretes, Paraná, Brazil

A Cephalotes atratus gliding ant in mid-air. Rainforest canopy ants risk losing contact with their colonies if they fall from their home trees to the dark, alien forest floor some 30-40 meters below. Canopy-dwellers can guard against getting lost by gliding back to the tree trunks before the fall too far.

Gamboa, Panama

Cephalotes maculatus

Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant. The broad head disc of this soldier is used in nature to block the nest entrance. This species nests in old burrows of wood-boring beetles and constantly faces usurpation by competing ants.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes varians turtle ants. To enter her nest in a mangrove twig, a foraging worker must pass the door-guarding soldier whose head is roughly the same size and shape as the entrance. These ants don't build the nests themselves; rather, they inhabit burrows made by beetle larvae.

Florida Keys, USA

Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Cephalotes rohweri, the Arizona turtle ant.

Tucson, Arizona, USA

Canon EOS 20D |

More details: exif |

Original size: 3504x2336 |

Current: 800x534 |

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Keywords: bugs ants insect insects arboreal formicidae myrmicinae cephalotes cephalotes rohweri turtle ants turtle ant

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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013

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