Forel (1899) reported that the type specimens were collected by A. Alfaro from a rotten log. Kugler collected specimens in Colombia, from a "large nest in rotten log, soil - rocks, under forest" (reported in Brandao 1990).
I have observed modestus numerous times in Costa Rica. It prefers mature wet forest. It appears to be rare at La Selva, but becomes increasingly abundant at higher elevations. At La Selva, I have seen the occasional worker from a sifted litter sample or at a bait on the forest floor, and once I found an isolated worker in the live hollow stem of a live Solanaceous scandent shrub (Witheringia?). At higher elevations above La Selva and in Penas Blancas, I frequently find modestus building soil shelters up trees and under liana stems, where they tend Coccoidea. Colonies are subterranean, can be very large, and may be polygynous.
Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela. Costa Rica: Atlantic slope wet forest.
Taxonomic history
Brandão, 1990b PDF: 426 (q.m.); Boudinot et al., 2013 PDF: 49 (w.q.m.).[[ worker ]] Giallo testaceo chiaro, con le zampe piu pallide. Tutto il corpo e levigato e lucido, con piccoli punti piligeri; gli scapi e le zampe hanno una lunga pubescenza obliquamente staccata; poco piu lunghi e piu ritti sono i peli delia parte anteriore del capo, che si fanno ancora piu lunghi nelle parti posteriori; simili lunghi peli si trovano meno numerosi sul torace e suU'addome. II capo e mediocremente allungato, ritondato indietro, senza' margine rialzato intorno al foro occipitale; le fossette antennali sono debolmente e finamente striate, non contornate da ruga. Le mandibole sono striate, opache, con 6 denti. Il flagello delle antenne e piu notevolmente ispessito che nelle altre specie, i 4 ultimi articoli costituiscono una clava poco pronunziata, il quartultimo essendo meno differente dal seguente che dal precedente (nelle altre specie, la clava e di 3. articoli). Il torace ha la forma solita; l'angolo del metanoto e molto ottuso, la sua faccia basale ha, per 2 / 3 circa della sua lunghezza, un'impressione longitudinale che accoglie il nodo del 1. ° segmento del peduncolo. Questo e piu gracile che nelle altre specie; veduto di fianco, appare sottilmente peduncolato in avanti, con un forte ed elevato nodo, che, veduto di sopra, e piu largo che lungo; il 2. ° segmento e trasversalmente ovale, poco piu largo del precedente e meno alto L. 4 — 4 3 / 4 mm.
Suerre presso Jimenez, Costa Rica, in un tronco putrefatto. Differisce dalle altre specie del genere, per le mandibole striate, opache, la clava di 4 articoli e la piccola statura.
Megalomyrmex modestus is a Neotropical species of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Known from Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela.[1]
In Costa Rica, M. modestus is found in mature wet forest of the Atlantic slope. Although it occurs at sea level, it is most abundant at middle elevations, 500–800 m. Nests are subterranean and very large. From these nests, inconspicuous covered galleries extend large distances up trees and under liana stems, and workers may be found under epiphyte mats in the canopy. Workers tend Coccoidea under the shelters. Workers are occasionally collected at baits on the forest floor, but in general they are not often seen as exposed foragers.[1]
This article incorporates text from a scholarly publication published under a copyright license that allows anyone to reuse, revise, remix and redistribute the materials in any form for any purpose: Longino, John T. (2010), "A taxonomic review of the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Central America" (PDF), Zootaxa, 2720: 35–58 Please check the source for the exact licensing terms.Megalomyrmex modestus is a Neotropical species of ants in the subfamily Myrmicinae. Known from Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela.
In Costa Rica, M. modestus is found in mature wet forest of the Atlantic slope. Although it occurs at sea level, it is most abundant at middle elevations, 500–800 m. Nests are subterranean and very large. From these nests, inconspicuous covered galleries extend large distances up trees and under liana stems, and workers may be found under epiphyte mats in the canopy. Workers tend Coccoidea under the shelters. Workers are occasionally collected at baits on the forest floor, but in general they are not often seen as exposed foragers.
