Powerful and deadly, trap-jaws are a record-breaking evolutionary innovation. Unlike normal gripping jaws, which rely on muscles to open and close, the trap-jaw latches itself open, storing energy ...

March 2 (UPI) --How did the trap-jaw ant evolve such a complex mechanism for snatching its prey?Today, the mandibles of trap-jaw ants take many forms, suggesting a tremendous level of anatomical ...

Trap-jaw ants can capture their prey with a strike more than 2,000 times faster than the blink of a human eye. Photo courtesy Alex Wild, myrmecos.net ...

Then there are the trap-jaw ants of the genus Odontomachus, which prefer—oh, I don’t know—not blowing themselves to pieces.As their name would suggest, these ants have remarkable mandibles ...

The trap-jaw ant has a won notorious reputation in the insect kingdom for its super-strong, spring-loaded mandibles, which it uses to crush prey with ease and defend its nests.

Adult trap-jaw ant mandibles snap shut when something touches the hair-like sensors inside them. They can move at speeds up to 210 feet (64 meters) per second. Developing head.

Out of 1,000 or so Strumigenys species, around 700 have trap jaws, and the remaining 300 don’t. The reason the trap jaw wins out is likely that it gave ants a “breakout innovation” in capturing prey. ...

Trap-jaw ants are known for using their powerful jaws to launch themselves into the air, somersaulting several times their own body length to evade predators. But some of these ants have another ...

But trap-jaw spiders, which range in length from 2 to 10 millimeters, or less than half an inch, seem to have both traits. Therefore, their powers must come from some ability to store the energy ...

Trap-jaw ants can escape predators' sand pits by using their powerful jaws to fling themselves away from danger, a new study finds. 0:53. WEIRD & WILD; ...

She recorded different species of trap-jaw spiders with the hunch that trap-jaw spiders might be using their specialized “head” anatomy to snap their chelicerae shut at extremely fast speeds. Wood ...