Photo by Piotr Naskrecki via antwiki.org
Trap-jaw ants (genus Odontomachus) are hardcore. Their jaws snap shut around prey in 0.13 milliseconds, faster than any other predatory movement in the animal kingdom. Scientists only recently got videos fast enough to record their movements.
So since I know an entomologist who’s obsessed with Odontomachus, I wrote him a poem about them:
The Trap-Jaw Ant
The Trap–Jaw Ant
The trap–jaw ant is small and yet
his jaws are very wide.
He snaps them shut if something dares
to touch the hairs inside.
Thus catches he the food he needs
to feed his growing form:
spiders, termites, ants and flies,
butterflies and worms.
He brings these meals back to the nest
where other ants will share.
But if you follow to observe,
Scientist, beware!
They’ll point their trap-jaws at the ground
and launch into the sky.
And if they land upon you,
they will sting you til you cry.
So let us imitate this ant
when facing the unknown:
Defend what’s yours but be prepared
to travel far from home.