Ants that fly sans wings, use their butts instead

If you think of ants in general then you know that if they want to go from one place to the other, they usually crawl. But these ants are a little different from the rest. We know that some ants have the brilliant ability to solve puzzles, some can solve math problems and some have an in built GPS, well add something new to this - the ability fly or well, glide.

Gliding ant

This just pushes these ants to the top of the ladder in the insect world. This Cephalotes atratus, tree nesting ant species can perform direct descents according to an article which came out in Integrative and Comparative Biology. Basically if these ants are in a position where they are falling off a canopy then can simply gain back control and glide into the tree tops again without any wings.

You may ask that gliding animals aren't really a new discovery, there are various fish and lizards and so on which can do so. But the issue here isn't about what they have, its about what they don't have. Munk has been carrying wind tunnels which are specially designed, to the Amazon since 2007.

Thanks to these tunnels, researches can capture videos of the exact movements which helps these ants in gliding. What studies have shown, is that the key to this aerial descent basically lies in the back legs and also the rear end. All this ant does is stretch and raise its legs and lowers its body segment and lo and behold, it turns into a backward glider. Even though researchers can understand all the mechanics which are related to the movement of the ant, they haven't yet really found a solid reason as to why only this particular species has this unique property.

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Cephalotes atratus

These ants possess obvious evolutionary adaptations to aid their gliding behavior

Cephalotes Atratus:

Cephalotes Atratus is actually a genus of the ant species, all of them having the same odd head style, which are usually arboreal and are usually the gliding ants. These ants have the uncanny ability to parachute off if they fall of anything. This type of ant is usually found in very large trees.

The nests of the species can be found in hollow branches of high trees, even though one nest has been found in the hollow trunk of a small tree. This ant is omnivorous and it can be found having garbage and even having carrion. It has a striking form when you see it walking above the tree logs and trunks. The eyes is present below its antennal scrobe and it extends above the vertex margin. The genae completely covers the frontal carinae and this is not distinctly crenulated. This species is usually common to the Amazon rain forest.

Some Facts About The Gliding Ant

Interesting Characteristics:

• The ants possess evolutionary adaptations which help in their gliding behavior. Even fossil evidence shows that the early hexapods may just have glided before they had developed wings.
• This species is usually found with the Tragopa peruviana, which usually stays on the large leaves of the Isertia haenkeana and less on the Vismia Angusta. researches think that these plans take full advantage of the sugary secretions of the Tragopa.
• The colony ants of the rainforest, stand at risk of losing their colonies if they fall off the home trees into the dark.
• There is a type of canopy species like the Cephalotes which can prevent itself from getting lost by simply gliding back to the tree.
• When the Cephalotes gets infected by any parasitic nematode the usually black rear end of the ant turns into red, just like the red berries which are found in the rain forests.
• The spiny yet hard armor which the ants have is good enough to protect it from the ordinary enemy.