Platythyrea modesta Emery

Type location Cameroun (Platythyrea modesta n. sp., Emery, 1899e: 467, worker) collected at Mundame by Conradt - see below
worker and larval instar described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Emery's (1899e) description is at .

Nigeria specimens (Taylor, 1976: 9). WORKER. TL 6.6 mm, HL 1.34, HW 1.15, SL 1.03 and PW 0.95.
Colour generally black, shiny with grey pubescence, extremities, red-brown. Eye ovoid with flattened anterior edge. Posterior edge of propodeum with a pair of small teeth. Posterior edge of petiole with paired lateral teeth and a single central dorsal tooth.
An uncommon, arboreal species which I recorded twice on cocoa at the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigera, Idi Ayunre.

Wheeler (1922) noted it also from Equatorial Guinea and Congo.

The photomontage of a lectotype worker is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=casent0907108.

Brown (1975: 45) found specimens to be generally somewhat larger than the specimen he chose as a cotype (syntype) , TL 7.5, HL 1.38, HW 1.14, SL 1.07, from the collection made by Conradt in Cameroun, 1895. He saw specimens from Kenya (G Allen & Brooks, Gilgil to Laikipia), Sudan (JG Myers, Khor Aba, Aloma Plateau), Uganda (Ross & Leech, 10m west of Jinja, 1200m), Zaïre (Ross & Leech at Thysville and 62 miles east of Kibombo, 14 August 1957); Gabon (Makokou, in rain forest, by I Lieberburg); Ghana (at Tafo, by B Bolton); and Ivory Coast (ORSTOM, 17 km w of Abidjan, by himself). The illustration of the petiole (right) is of a specimen collected near Kimbombo by Ross & Leech.

Collingwood (1985, illustrated), recording it from Saudi Arabia, noted that it is an active predator with a relatively sharp sting; and was collected from an exposed rock in bright sunshine.

Oxford University Museum specimens

Platythyrea modesta B Taylor det. Queen

Central African Republic P Annoyer EM

03.ii.2005 Dzanga-Sangha 03°01'49.5" N 16°08'31.7" E

567 m; 18h-6h30; Sur banc de sable au milieu du fleuve Sangha, 400 mètres en amont du camp 2

1

The photomontage is of a queen from the Central African Republic, sur banc de sable au milieu du fleuve Sangha; collector Philippe Annoyer (CAR EM).

The photomontage of a worker from South Africa is collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=SAM-HYM-C000992b
Collection Information: Specimen Code SAM-HYM-C000992B; Locality South Africa: Natal: Mkuze Game Reserve, nr Malibali Hide; 27°39'00"S 032°11'00"E 130 m; Collection codes: SAM-HYM-C000992; Date: 25 Feb 1988; Collected by: H.G.Robertson; Method: breaking open dead branches/wood; Habitat: woodland: open

Given my specimen from Nigeria and the queen from the Central African Republic, this is aberrant in terms of colour and appears to have a small median projection on the clypeus.

The photomontage of a male from South Africa coolected with the above worker and collated from http://www.antweb.org/specimen.do?name=SAM-HYM-C000992a