Cephalotes alveolatus was described from a single fossil ant preserved as an inclusion in a transparent chunk of Dominican amber.

[1][2][3] The amber was produced by the extinct Hymenaea protera, which formerly grew on Hispaniola, across northern South America and up to southern Mexico.

At the time of description, the holotype specimen was preserved in the private collection of Joachim Scheven in Hagen, Germany.

They placed the species into the genus Zacryptocerus, and coined the specific epithet alveolatus as a reference to the many small pits on the head and body of the worker.

The authors examined the type specimen, then still in Scheven collection, and an additional fossil worker housed in the Staatliches Museum fiir Naturkunde and placed into the species.

They noted that the holotype specimen is damaged due to burning, and as such the original coloration of the worker is unidentifiable, and the integument is partially fragmented.

The coloration seen on specimen DO-I 980 indicates black tones on the ridges and rear corners of the head along with the lamellae edges which border the pronotum.