[2] It is native to Central and South America, where it is a common species, forming large colonies in the canopy of the forest.

[3] Crematogaster carinata is native to the Neotropics, its range extending from Costa Rica southward to Bolivia and southern Brazil.

It is a widespread species and is found in humid rainforest, and other types of wet lowland forest, at altitudes of up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

[4] Crematogaster carinata is an omnivore, foraging by day and by night for any foodstuff which is available, and making use of any extrafloral nectaries the host tree may provide.

[3] When Crematogaster carinata shares a nest with the much fiercer Camponotus femoratus, it may benefit from that ant's aggression.