Cephalotes maya

{{Short description|Extinct species of ant}}

{{Speciesbox

| image =

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| genus = Cephalotes

| species = maya

| authority = De Andrade, 1999

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Cephalotes maya is an extinct{{cite web |title=†Cephalotes maya de Andrade 1999 (ant) |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=256723 |website=Fossilworks |access-date=17 December 2021}} 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 was probably native of the Mexican state of Chiapas, however, lack of more evidence makes this uncertain.{{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) |location=Basel |page=526 |url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758 |access-date=22 January 2019}} Their larger and flatter legs, a trait common with other members of the genus Cephalotes, gave 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/n435 432]-433 |url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758 |access-date=29 January 2019}}

The species was first given a description and a classification by Brazilian entomologist Maria de Andrade in 1999. It was subsequently described in Diversity and Adaptation in the Ant Genus Cephalotes Past and Present (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) as a sister group to Cephalotes foliaceus and was discovered fosillized in amber in the state of Chiapas in Mexico.{{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) |location=Basel |url=https://archive.org/details/biostor-102758 |access-date=22 January 2019}}