Cephalotes spinosus Misahuallí, Napo, Ecuador - Alex Wild Photography - Insect Photography

Cephalotes

is a diverse genus of heavily-armored, tree-dwelling myrmicine ants found in forested regions of the new world tropics and subptropics. A number of rainforest canopy species show the unusual habit of controlled gliding flight when they are knocked from tree branches. Most species are polymorphic, having a "soldier" caste with an enlarged head used for blocking the nest entrances.