Tiny yellow timid ants (Monomorium modestum)
Very tiny ants [>1.5 mm], pale to transparent, all same size, under a stone in the intertidal [below the spring high line]; no brood or queens noted. The body is almost transparent so the colour is tough to reproduce. We have also found a similar species that is brown in colour, which I have identified as M. torvicte but not drawn yet. I had only ever found Anoplolepis steingroeveri in the littoral zone before, but that's where these minute little girls [1.5mm] were, with Anoplolepis and Camponotus niveosetosus nearby in the same habitat. The Monomoriums were ignored by the other ants in the vicinity, 'freezing' when encountering them. We have also found them at Waterfalls near Stanford, at Bordjiesrif and at Smitswinkel Bay. My perspective drawing is unsatisfactory and will be replaced in due course. More at www.ants.org.za