Megalomyrmex modestus

Megalomyrmex modestus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Formicidae
Subfamily:	Myrmicinae
Tribe:	Solenopsidini
Genus:	Megalomyrmex
Species:	M. modestus
Binomial name
Megalomyrmex modestus Emery, 1896

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]

References

1. Longino 2010, p. 46

• Longino, John T. (2010), "A taxonomic review of the ant genus Megalomyrmex Forel (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Central America" (PDF), Zootaxa 2720: 35–58
• 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.