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Every single species of ant tested in the genus '' Cephalotes '' has this ability, as do many species of '' Pseudomyrmecinae '', and some other groups. ''Cephalotes'' may have specifically evolved the unusually flattened, flanged head of that genus for this ability to steer in the air while falling.

Such ants even voluntarily leap into the air, for example, to escape predators, secure in the (genetic) knowledge that they have an 85% chance of landing successfully on the same tree, as opposed to 5% if they were simply parachuting like normal ants.


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