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
