Cephalotes atratus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Cephalotes atratus is a species of arboreal ant in the genus Cephalotes, a genus characterized by its odd shaped head. These ants are known as gliding ants because of their ability to "parachute" by steering their fall if they lose their footing.
It is called kaka-sikikoko in the Kwaza language of Rondônia, Brazil. Cephalotes atratus is a large, mainly black ant; workers are 8 to 14 mm (0.3 to 0.6 in) in length and females 20 mm (0.8 in). Males are up to 14 mm (0.55 in) and have black heads and thoraxes, and dark reddish-brown gasters and limbs. The workers are spiny and heavily armoured with powerful mandibles for chewing through wood.
This ant occurs in lowland tropical rainforests in South America where its range extends from Panama and Venezuela to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay and northern Argentina. It is a common arboreal species and colonies are found in forested areas, parkland with isolated trees, and urban habitats.
This ant usually builds its nest in a hollow in a large live or dead tree. A small entrance may lead to a complex of tunnels and chambers, all excavated by the ants. From the nest the workers emerge... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Main Ridge Forest Reserve | 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago | |
| 2 | Anavilhanas National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 7 | Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 8 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 4 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Belém | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Brasilia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Giant Turtle Ant sighting in Parque Natural Metropolitano on a given day, based on 36 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 114 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Giant Turtle Ant in Parque Natural Metropolitano on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month. That is one of Parque Natural Metropolitano's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 350 mm in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Giant Turtle Ant sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Common Giant Turtle Ant sightings, Parque Natural Metropolitano ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Main Ridge Forest Reserve (Trinidad and Tobago, about 20%), Anavilhanas National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Manu National Park (Peru, about 20%).
Same family: Formicidae
The closest relatives of the Common Giant Turtle Ant that you can see in Parque Natural Metropolitano (family Formicidae, Ants) are Colombian Leafcutter Ant (about 10%), Ectatomma tuberculatum (about 10%) and Hairy-Headed Leafcutter Ant (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Giant Turtle Ant is recorded against all the insects logged in Parque Natural Metropolitano (36 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
