Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other.  Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other.  Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
A Forelius grandis worker carries a stone excavated from her nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucumán, Argentina
Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other.  Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
Odontomachus chelifer is the largest trap-jaw ant species in South America.

Aragua, Venezuela
Odontomachus chelifer is the largest trap-jaw ant species in South America.

Aragua, Venezuela
A Forelius grandis worker carries a stone excavated from her nest.

Amaicha del Valle, Tucumán, Argentina
Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other. Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other.  Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
Odontomachus chelifer. Ants from different colonies don't normally tolerate each other. Here, a trap-jaw ant dispatches an intruder from a neighboring nest.

Aragua, Venezuela
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all images and text © Alex Wild 2001-2013