Directional control during a fall is thought to be an important stage in the evolution of flight, but such behavior is unknown in insects. Here I show that workers of the Neotropical ant Cephalotes atratus (L.) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) use directed aerial descent to return to their home tree trunk with 85% success during a fall. Ant workers descend abdomen-first through steep glide trajectories at high velocities and use visual cues to locate tree trunks. Glide performance is size-dependent: smaller workers of C. atratus and smaller species of Cephalotes regain contact with the tree trunk over shorter vertical distances than do larger workers. Within ants, gliding occurs in the tribe Cephalotini, and arboreal Pseudomyrmecinae and Formicinae, but not in arboreal Ponerinae or Dolichoderinae. The behavior is not restricted to ants; several other arthropod taxa also glide, and some will likely provide important links in our understanding of the evolution of insect flight.