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Trap-Jaw Ants Break Speed Records With Jaws
Ant writes to tell us UC Berkeley News is reporting that a species of Ant native to Central and South America is setting speed records with their jaws. The trap-jaw ant has been clocked closing its mandibles at between 78 and 145 miles per hour, said to be the "fastest self-powered predatory strike in the animal kingdom". In addition to blinding speed the ants have also been taped using their jaws to fling themselves into the air.
The average duration of a strike was a mere 0.13 milliseconds, or 2,300 times faster than the blink of an eye.The average duration of a strike was a mere 0.13 milliseconds, or 2,300 times faster than the blink of an eye.
Notice that at no time do my jaws leave my head...
"We are all geniuses when we dream"
- E.M. Cioran
My 0.02 cents
Anybody check to see if there were banned substances in the ant?
What i learned from the article.
1) Black ants can jump.
The researchers used a high-speed video camera filming at 50,000 frames per second to visualize the mandible movements.
2) If i want a high-speed camera, become a researcher.
The jumps were detailed at a relatively slower 3,000 frames per second.
3) Jumping is slower than eating.
The average duration of a strike was a mere 0.13 milliseconds, or 2,300 times faster than the blink of an eye.
4) Blinking is slower than eating.
Yet, the researchers note that even when an ant lands on its back or head, the insect is so light that it can still walk away no worse for wear.
5) These ants are light headed.
Have you read my journal today?
So this is like rocket-jumping in Quake, right?
"welcome our insectoid jaw-flapping overlords"
Don't tell me: Another Ann Coulter appearance on Hannity and Colmes last night?
Where were you when the voynix came?
Yes, but white ants have sound fundamentals, and they are deceptively fast. It has been reported that with advancements in genetic engineering, Chinese ants will soon be just as good.
It does. Certain species of the mantis shrimp are able to strike at a speed of up to 23m/s, whereas the range listed here is 35m/s to 65m/s.
The mantis shrimp is able to manage an acceleration of 10,500g and achieve a force of 1500N at impact. I wonder what the acceleration and force are for this ant. Any physics experts want to chime in?
You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
Let's hope they can retract their tongue at record breaking speeds.
Karma: Excer..ex...excellahhh...realll good (mostly affected by drinking not done in moderation)
"The trap-jaw ant has been clocked closing its mandibles at between 78 and 145 miles per hour"
Shouldn't that be in bites per second?
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First entomology, then virology, and finally bioinformatics systems. Bugs follow me wherever I go.
What's this? A Slashdotter that knows girls? Sir, I accuse you of lying.
Programmer: an ingenious device that converts caffeine into code.
Trap jaw ants do live in the wild in the southern U.S -- I've studied them in Austin Texas. They're not easy to find as the colonies are very small and the individuals tend to be quite reclusive. They are largish ants (about about 1 cm in length), dark in color, and tend to be fairly slow moving when foraging in leaf litter and under rocks. They walk around with their jaws cocked open and one or two pairs of trigger hairs in the mouth fire the jaw. As the article states a snap of the jaw impales the prey and then the ant stings it. If they fire the jaw on a solid object, the ant goes flying. Either way the jaw emits a loud 'snap' when triggered. Despite the sharp hair-trigger jaw and sting, these ants tend to fall into the "fierce in their nest, but timid in the wild" range of ant behavior.
As amazing as the trap jaw design is, these ants are not unique. The trap jaw concept evolved at least twice in ants. Two collections of ant species on widely separated arms of the ant family tree use a trap jaw mechanism for capturing prey. They share the same jaw design, but have very different head shapes. Ants of genus Odontomachus (the ones in the video) have an odd-shaped lumpy cylindrical head. Those on the other side of the ant family tree (genus Daceton and Strumigenys) have a distinct heart-shaped head. Species of both types occur in the U.S. The Strumigenys that I've seen in the U.S. are very small (about 2 mm) and thrive on similarly tiny creatures found in rotting logs, leaf litter, etc.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
...these scientists have never seen my g/f's response when she sees my paycheck in my hand.
"fastest self-powered predatory strike in the animal kingdom" my ass.
-Styopa