Cephalotes jamaicensis

{{Short description|Species of ant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| image_caption =

| genus = Cephalotes

| species = jamaicensis

| authority = (Forel, 1922)

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Cephalotes jamaicensis 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.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]{{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 }} The species is native in Jamaica, the specimen that lead to its discovery was found in Kingston{{cite web |title=Species Range Maps |url=http://antmaps.org/?mode=species&species=Cephalotes.jamaicencis |website=Antmaps.org |access-date=24 January 2019}} Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus Cephalotes, gives them their gliding abilities.{{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/n472 469]-470 |url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758 |access-date=24 January 2019}}

The species was first given a description and a classification in 1922 by Swiss entomologist Auguste Forel.