Gliding ants are arboreal ants of several different genera that are able to control the direction of their descent when falling from a tree. Living in the rainforest canopy like many other gliders, gliding ants use their gliding to return to the trunk of the tree they live on should they fall or be knocked off a branch.

Jun 13, 2011 · These tree-dwelling ants are capable of a directed aerial descent (DAD) should they fall from high-up in the tree canopy. DAD is a defensive behavior that allows an ant to glide backwards and steer itself toward and land on the trunk of the tree from which it fell.

May 1, 2015 · Our results indicate that ants are not passive gliders and that they exert active control over the aerodynamic forces they experience during their descent, despite their apparent lack of specialized control surfaces.

Did you know some ants can fly without wings? Yes, you read that right! Meet the gliding ant, a tiny but mighty arthropod that has mastered the art of aerial movement without the need for wings.

Cephalotes alfaroi 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.

Our results indicate that ants are not passive gliders and that they exert active control over the aerodynamic forces they experience during their descent, despite their apparent lack of specialized control surfaces.

Mar 17, 2010 · In contrast to the patagial membranes of gliding vertebrates, the aerodynamic surfaces used by falling wingless ants to direct their aerial descent are unknown. We conducted ablation experiments to...

Gliding ants are arboreal ants of several different genera that are able to control the direction of their descent when falling from a tree. Living in the rainforest canopy like many other gliders, gliding ants use their gliding to return to the trunk of the tree they live on should they fall or be knocked off a branch.

Nov 30, 2010 · Storms, predators and other forces regularly knock arboreal ants out of their trees. Rather than falling straight down however, the wingless tropical ant Cephalotes atratus glides backwards as it falls.

Feb 10, 2005 · Here we show that workers of the neotropical ant Cephalotes atratus L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) use directed aerial descent to return to their home tree trunk with >80% success during a fall.