Tapinoma modestum Santschi

Type location Zimbabwe (Tapinoma (Micromyrma) modestum, n. sp., Santschi, 1932a: 390, worker, not illustrated); worker only described (see Bolton, 1995) .

Santschi's (1932a) description is at .

My translation: WORKER - TL 1.4-1.5 mm; colour yellow ochre, gaster a duller yellow, and sometimes the vertex and the gaster somewhat brownish; smooth; pubescence very fine and very short not hiding the shine of the cuticle; erect hairs solely around the mouth. Head rectangular, slightly longer than wide, narrowing anteriorly, sides convex, posterior angles rounded, posterior border straight. Eyes convex, about a quarter smaller than their distance from the anterior of the head and set between the midline and the anterior third of the head. Frontal carinae wide apart; frontal area and notch indistinct; mandibles smooth with three small anterior teeth following the denticles. Scape reaching the posterior border of the head; funiculus segments 2-9 wider than long, the second shorter, the first as long as the following three together. Thorax as long as the head, dorsal profile near flat; propodeum angle rounded with the basal face wider than long, the declivity bordered; pronotum about as wide as long, also the mesonotum. Petiole scale very low.

The photomontage is of a specimen from Gabon, collected by Yves Braet, 2006. Other images can be seen in the folder at -