Odontomachus bauri with a young cricket it has caught. La Selva, Heredia, Costa Rica
Odontomachus bauri. Millisecnds ahead of a mandible strike, a tropical trap-jaw ant closes in on its cricket prey. La Selva, Heredia, Costa Rica
Odontomachus bauri La Selva, Heredia, Costa Rica
Odontomachus rixosus trap-jaw ant with mandibles in the open (top) and closed (bottom) positions. Cambodia (laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)
Odontomachus cephalotes
An Australian trap-jaw ant with her mandibles in an intermediate position. Queensland, Australia.
Portrait of an Australian trap-jaw ant. Queensland, Australia.
Portrait of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus rixosus with her jaws closed. Cambodia (laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)
Portrait of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus rixosus with her jaws open. Note the forward-facing trigger hairs. Cambodia (laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)
Odontomachus clarus
A Texan trap-jaw ant captures a subterranean termite. Brackenridge Field Lab, Austin, Texas, USA.
Odontomachus bauri. Trap-jaw ants are normally thought of as predators, but they also tend honeydew-producing insects. Gamboa, Panama
An Odontomachus bauri worker has captured an earthworm and is carrying it home. Gamboa, Panama
Odontomachus bauri trap-jaw ants showing some of the different mandible positions. La Selva, Heredia, Costa Rica
Odontomachus bauri. With peak velocities over 50 meters per second, the mandibles of this species have among the fastest recorded movements in the biological world La Selva, Heredia, Costa Rica
Sensitive trigger hairs of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus coquereli protrude forward from the base of the mandibles. Madagascar
Caught! A small cricket is impaled on the mandibles of a malagasy trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus coquereli. Madagascar
Odontomachus coquereli Madagascar
Odontomachus coquereli. Notice the tiny mites riding on this ant's mandibles. The mites are apparently able to hold tight even when the jaws of their host slam shut at high speed. Madagascar
The brightly colored head of Odontomachus erythrocephalus makes this species among the most recognizable trap-jaw ants. Icononzo, Tolima, Colombia
Odontomachus meinerti, with mandibles locked into the "ready-to-fire" position, trigger hairs pointing forward. Misiones, Argentina
Odontomachus cephalotes Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia
An Odontomachus meinerti worker threatens the photographer. Misiones, Argentina
Odontomachus meinerti is the smallest of the new world Odontomachus species. Misiones, Argentina
The tip of the trap: the blunt-force weapons of the trap-jaw ant Odontomachus meinerti. Misiones, Argentina
Odontomachus clarus, the desert trap-jaw ant. Portal, Arizona, USA
Spiky larvae are characteristic of ponerine ants. Here, an Odontomachus clarus desert trap-jaw ant tends to larvae in the brood nest. Portal, Arizona, USA
Odontomachus brunneus is the common trap-jaw ant along the gulf coast of the southern United States. Elsanor, Alabama, USA
Odontomachus assiniensis. The odd, alien-shaped head of a trap-jaw ant serves to house the set of muscles and latches that operate the ant's mandibular trap. St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa
Odontomachus chelifer is the largest trap-jaw ant species in South America. 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
From Cambodia (laboratory colony at the University of Illinois)
Odontomachus clarus. Male ants betray the wasp ancestry of ants, often bearing little resemblance to the females of the species. This is a male of the desert trap-jaw ant. Tucson, Arizona, USA
An Acanthognathus ocellatus forager hunts through a bed of moss Venezuela
The short inner teeth on the mandibles of this Acanthognathus ocellatus worker are for performing the delicate tasks within the nest, as the expansive trap-jaws themselves are not well-suited for domestic work. Venezuela
Acanthognathus ocellatus Venezuela
Anochetus faurei St. Lucia, KZN, South Africa
Odontomachus clarusOdontomachusPonerinaeFormicidaeHymenopterainsectsinsectbugsnatureponeromorphdesert trap jaw anttrapjaw antstrapjaw antmale antmale trapjaw antmales
