The specific name abscondita refers to the exceedingly secretive nature of this species, which, after being recognized from a few rare specimens, proved frustratingly elusive during multiple attempts to locate it in the field.

[2] In 2003, a single stray worker of C. abscondita was taken in a pitfall trap as part of an ant survey conducted at the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Serra das Almas, Crateús, Ceará, Brazil, a relatively undisturbed area of Caatinga, a biome characterized by deciduous thorny woodland vegetation.

The specimen was deposited in the Museum of Zoology of the University of São Paulo (MZUSP) ant collection, where it was at first associated with the Mycetophylax species group, but subsequently recognized as a new neoattine genus.

[3] In 2008, two workers were taken in pitfall traps in the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) Cerrado preserve, near Fazenda Água Limpa (FAL) in Brasília, Federal District, Brazil.

[3] Results of molecular phylogenetic analyses incorporating four nuclear gene sequences from Cyatta abscondita confirm the previous finding that the tribe Attini is divided by an ancient divergence into two major clades, the Paleoattini and the Neoattini.