Giant leaps for antkind A single snap of the jaws of the tiny trap-jaw ant can propel the insect backward in leaps more than 3 inches high or 15 inches long. For an average-size human, the ...

Giant trap-jaw ants have a venomous sting, and can open their jaw 180 degrees. Now North Carolina researchers say they are spreading across the US.

A member of the Myrmoteras genus of trap-jaw ants, with mandibles deployed. Steve Shattuck Imagine you’re crawling along the forest floor, idly searching for a bit of fungus to chow down on ...

For 60 years, scientists have known that one species of small, rust-colored ant known as Formica archboldi likes to decorate its nests with skulls, or head cases, of several kinds of trap-jaw ants.

Trap-jaw ant species are active hunters with venomous stings and jaws powerful enough to fling themselves through the air. According to new research, they are also spreading into new territory in ...

Behold the Myrmoteras trap-jaw ant, which can snap shut its spring-loaded mandibles in half a millisecond. Entomologist Fred Larabee explains how it works.

An aggressive type of trap-jaw ant with a mighty bite is gaining ground in the U.S. southeast, new research finds. The species, Odontomachus haematodus, is native to South America, but it seems to ...

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.

In fact, the trap-jaw mechanism independently evolved several times in ants, and many different trap-jaw species have completely different ways to trigger their traps.

Trap-jaw ants have large mandibles that spring shut incredibly quickly, at speeds above 130 mph, generating a force 300 times greater than their body weight.

The trap jaw versus springing tail represents “an evolutionary arms race in terms of speed,” Larabee says. Just what pushed the evolution of trap jaws in ants as big as O. brunneus remains a ...

Trap-jaw ant species are active hunters with venomous stings and jaws powerful enough to fling themselves through the air. According to new research, they are also spreading into new territory in ...