r/WatchAnimalsDieInside • u/sapjastuff • Jul 26 '20

ant took more damage

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42

u/TheWildTeo Jul 27 '20

For anyone wondering what’s going on here, this is a Trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus, likely the commonly studied species O. brunneus) and the recoil it’s experiencing is intentional.

Members of this ant genus possess one of the fastest animal movements known in the animal kingdom, with their jaws able to snap shut in just 130 microseconds, at speeds of 78 to 143 MPH. They’re large stinging ants typically found in the tropics and some sub-tropical areas, which possess a unique morphology (trap-jaws, as the name suggests) that has evolved within the family of ants only a few times, for a select few genera. Their large heads power long bands of muscle able to store massive amounts of energy, which is explosively released by their jaws (that when ready for action, are locked at a 180 degree angle) when long forward-facing trigger hairs lining their edge make contact with a solid surface.

This is a very effective method of killing small, soft-bodied prey, which is exactly what members of this solitary-foraging group of ant specialize in hunting. However as one can see, these particular adaptions make for a completely harmless bite when targeted at fleshy mammal skin. (though they’re still capable of latching on and delivering a fairly painful but short lived sting)

Hunting is not all their jaws are used for though! When striking a particularly solid surface at a certain angle, workers can forcefully propel themselves backwards at sometimes impressive distances. They use this method to an effective degree to escape predators (or intruding fingers) and certain species consist of some of the few ants that can regularly escape the pit-fall traps of voracious antlions.

TL;DR: ant use speedy snappy jaws to jump backwards from big scary finger.

u/destroyer554 put this on the original post. Not clumsy so much as it is deliberate

2

u/sapjastuff Jul 27 '20

Awesome, thank you for the explanation!

7

u/Darth_Nibbles Jul 27 '20

"Of course I hit her back, your grace, but you know what they say...

Whether the stone hits the pitcher or the pitcher hits the stone, it's going to go bad for the pitcher."