Although South American capuchin species often travel with and feed together with squirrel monkeys, the white-headed capuchin only rarely associates with the Central American squirrel monkey. This appears to be related to the patchier, more dispersed distribution of food resources in Central America and the fact that there is less dietary overlap between the Central American squirrel monkey and the white-headed capuchin than between their South American counterparts. Therefore, there is less benefit to the Central American squirrel monkey in associating with the white-headed capuchin in order to exploit the capuchin's knowledge of food resource distribution. In addition, compared to their South American counterparts, male white-headed capuchins are relatively more alert to rival males than to predators, reducing the predator detection benefits that the Central American squirrel monkey receives from associating with the white-headed capuchin compared to its South American counterparts. Since the squirrel monkeys generally initiate interactions with the capuchins in South America, the fact that similar associations would impose higher foraging costs and impart fewer predator detection benefits to the Central American squirrel monkey leads to fewer associations with the white-headed capuchin.