Platythyrea modesta

An arboreal foraging species. Nests are polygynous, contain up to 50 workers and occupy pre-exiting cavities in rough bark or dead branches in trees and Cubitermes spp. termitaries situated at the bases of trees in old and secondary forests. Their swiftness enables the workers to capture a wide variety of insects, including agile or large individuals. (Djieto-Lordon et al. 2001)

Distribution based on Regional Taxon Lists
Afrotropical Region: Cameroun, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda. Palaearctic Region: Oman.

Biology
Studying prey/foraging behavior in this species, Djieto-Lordon et al. (2001) found: In Platythyrea modesta, an arboreal foraging ponerine ant, single workers mastered large prey, but were unable to retrieve them. They therefore recruited nestmates that either carved up the prey on the spot, and then solitarily retrieved pieces of prey, or consumed a part of the prey directly. Nevertheless, in most situations entire prey were consumed on the spot by recruited workers that, in certain cases, even transported larvae from the nest to the prey. In nature, the latter behavior resembles emigration.

Nomenclature

 *  modesta. Platythyrea modesta Emery, 1899e: 467 (w.) CAMEROUN. Wheeler, G.C. & Wheeler, J. 1976a: 41 (l.). See also: Brown, 1975: 45.