Cephalotes lenca

{{Short description|Species of ant}} {{Speciesbox | image = Cephalotes lenca.jpg | image_caption = | genus = Cephalotes | species = lenca | authority = De Andrade, 1999 }}

'''''Cephalotes lenca''''' 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.<ref>Latreille, P.A. (1802). Histoire naturelle, generale et particuliere des crustaces et des insectes. Vol. 3. ''F. Dufart, Paris''. 467 pp. [http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/publications/0242/0242.pdf PDF]</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Yanoviak | first1 = S. P. | last2 = Munk | first2 = Y. | last3 = Dudley | first3 = R. | doi = 10.1093/icb/icr006 | title = Evolution and Ecology of Directed Aerial Descent in Arboreal Ants | journal = Integrative and Comparative Biology | volume = 51 | issue = 6 | pages = 944–956 | year = 2011 | pmid = 21562023| doi-access = free }}</ref> The species is native of Nicaragua and Honduras.<ref>{{cite web |title=Species Range Maps |url=http://antmaps.org/?mode=species&species=Cephalotes.lenca |website=Antmaps.org |access-date=26 January 2019}}</ref> Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus ''Cephalotes'', gives them their gliding abilities.<ref>{{cite book |last1=De Andrade |first1=Maria |last2=Urbani |first2=Cesare |title=Diversity and adaptation in the ant genus Cephalotes, past and present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) |date=1999 |publisher=Stuttgarter Beitraege zur Naturkunde Serie B (Geologie und Palaeontologie) |pages=[https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758/page/n615 612]-613 |url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758 |access-date=26 January 2019}}</ref>

The species was first given a description and a classification in 1999 by Brazilian entomologist Maria de Andrade.

==References== {{Reflist}}

lenca Category:Insects described in 1999