Harpegnathos
is a south Asian genus of slender, large-eyed ponerine ants. These charismatic insects are capable of jumping several times their body length. Both workers and gynes can mate and lay fertilized eggs, leading to internal power struggles within the nest that are an active subject of research.
Harpegnathos ants have evolved elongate mandibles in a rather unusual fashion. Most long-jawed ants (such as this
bulldog ant) got their long chops by simply stretching out their mandibles evenly, but
Harpegnathos followed a different path. They took a little piece along the front of the mandible near the head and pulled it forward almost as if it were silly putty, leaving the rest more or less intact. The downward-pointing triangle near the base is the remains of the old mandibular tip.
Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah Borneo
bulldog ant) got their long chops by simply stretching out their mandibles evenly, but
Harpegnathos followed a different path. They took a little piece along the front of the mandible near the head and pulled it forward almost as if it were silly putty, leaving the rest more or less intact. The downward-pointing triangle near the base is the remains of the old mandibular tip.
Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah Borneo" href="javascript:openLB(991471876,'',XLarge,'',1024,669);">
Harpegnathos ants have evolved elongate mandibles in a rather unusual fashion. Most long-jawed ants (such as this
bulldog ant) got their long chops by simply stretching out their mandibles evenly, but
Harpegnathos followed a different path. They took a little piece along the front of the mandible near the head and pulled it forward almost as if it were silly putty, leaving the rest more or less intact. The downward-pointing triangle near the base is the remains of the old mandibular tip.
Danum Valley Field Centre, Sabah Borneo
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