Ants use jaws to catapult themselves out of death traps

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.

However, a new study, reported in PLOS ONE, has revealed a whole new use for its impressive jaws: flinging itself out of “death traps” set by predators.

Research carried out by Fredrick Larabee and Andrew Suarez, entomologists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, compounds earlier findings from 2006, which showed that trap-jaw ants could use their lightning-fast mouths for “ballistic jaw propulsion”—in short, opening their jaws to 180 degrees before snapping them shut at 140 miles per hour.

More scientific evidence that mouths are for more than just eating.

See also: Dragged itself around by its teeth.

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