Described by the Italian entomologist Carlo Emery in 1893, the species is native to Central and South America.

This ant is found in Central America and as far south as southern Brazil and eastern Peru, at altitudes of up to 1,800 m (6,000 ft).

[3] Azteca muelleri forms a spongy nest in cavities inside the trunk and branches of a Cecropia tree.

Another insect that also lives in the hollow twigs and branches of C. pachystachya is the beetle Coelomera ruficornis.

Typically, A. alfari is the first to colonise a young Cecropia sapling, perhaps by the roadside or in a clearing, as these trees are pioneering species.