Several groups of animals present defense strategies associated with color as a warning signal that potentially impede attacks of visually oriented predators. However, the effect of coloration over predation pressure depends on micro-habitat characteristics, such as background matching color or light availability, and not exclusively on coloration. Vibrant color patterns may be more frequent in open areas, thus, variation in environmental conditions may result in different color patterns distributed throughout an heterogeneous habitat. Most species of velvet ants have aposematic coloration which, coupled with many of their defensive strategies, seems to be effective against predators. Herein we investigate how coloration in velvet ants varies along an environmental gradient to understand if: (1) more vibrant colors are more frequent in open habitat and less vibrant colors are more associated to closed canopy habitat; (3) neutral color patterns are more frequent in shaded habitat. Velvet ants were sampled with 25 arrays of Y-shaped pitfall traps with drift fences for three years along an environmental gradient from cerrado sensu stricto (open canopy, warmer, drier) to cerradão (closed canopy, cooler, moister). Dataloggers installed near each trap recorded microclimate parameters throughout the study period. We expect that open habitats will bear species with more vibrant colors, because individuals there are more susceptible to predation. In turn, closed canopy habitats will shelter species with less vibrant and neutral color due to crypsis advantages and as a strategy of heat retention and thermoregulation.