trap-jaw ants

Odontomachus meinerti trap-jaw ant, Argentina One perk of being at a research university is the opportunity to shoot the various study organisms on campus.  These subjects are interesting- they have to be, or they wouldn't be studied- and when the research goes public I get the chance to disseminate my photographs with the science media outlets that cover the story. Among my favorite campus animals is the Odontomachus trap-jaw ant, one of the focal taxa in Andy Suarez's lab.  The researchers are looking at the biomechanics of the jaw, one of the fastest recorded appendages among all…

I'm on a roll!  Myrmecos.net has a new series covering several species of trap-jaw ants: Go see!