Tetraponera modesta, a new pseudomyrmecine ant record (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Sri Lanka

Abstract

Tetraponera modesta (F. Smith, 1860) is herewith recorded for the first time from Sri Lanka. With this addition number of known Sri Lankan species for the genus becomes five. The other four species are T. allaborans (Walker, 1859), T. nigra (Jerdon, 1851), T. nitida (Smith, 1860), and T. rufonigra (Jerdon, 1851). Among the known regional species, T. modesta is easily separable by smaller size, yellow to orange brown colouration of the head and mesosoma, and relatively slender petiole.