Trap-Jaw Ants Break Speed Records With Jaws 166
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 jaw is quicker than the eye (Score:5, Funny)
Notice that at no time do my jaws leave my head...
Re: (Score:2)
Well, I don't know about you, but I noticed that at no time when I blink do my eyes, or eyelids, leave my head.
Re:The jaw is quicker than the eye (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:The jaw is quicker than the eye (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Woman?
Nothing new here (Score:2)
More on-topic than ever before (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Damn cartoon cliches! Don't make me clamp you!
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Donbot: How many times is that, two or three?
Clamps: Three.
Donbot: All right, that's the necessary number of times. That hackneyed writer's going
to have a little on-the-job "accident."
Re:More on-topic than ever before (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds to me like they'll ever make it in the US anyway -- disguising yourself as a tast salty morsel is pretty poor mimicry from an evolutionary standpoint.
Do they come in butter flavor?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
(For the humor-impaired, yes I am aware the real reason they jump is because of the moth larva [wikipedia.org] inside it, click it and learn something.
Ants on a Plane??? (Score:1)
Doping Probe (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Doping Probe (Score:4, Funny)
That ant must be a Kennedy.
Moo (Score:5, Funny)
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.
White ants (Score:5, Funny)
Yes, but white ants have sound fundamentals, and they are deceptively fast [blogspot.com]. It has been reported that with advancements in genetic engineering [time.com], Chinese ants will soon be just as good.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Rather, the insect is so small that strong legs won't contribute much to its overall body mass; making the insect as large as a human would render all of the above impossible, and even if it did get in the air at the scaled height, it'd smash into a puddle of ant guts when it landed. Leg strengh = size squared; body mass = size cubed.
I for one (Score:2, Funny)
And I mean it, too. With yaps like that, they'll be stars of international politics in no time flat.
Been watching Fox News channel again, I see? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't tell me: Another Ann Coulter appearance on Hannity and Colmes last night?
Re:Been watching Fox News channel again, I see? (Score:5, Funny)
FLAWLESS VICTORY!!
Re: (Score:2)
Colmes (Score:2, Funny)
Quick mouth? (Score:2, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Quick mouth? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Not the fastest (Score:2)
Unless you don't consider patent lawyers part of the animal kingdom.
Re: (Score:1)
Jaw-jumping (Score:5, Funny)
Nah! The Six Million Dollar Ant! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Another fun fact about bugs... (Score:1)
Re:Another fun fact about bugs...uncomfortable (Score:4, Funny)
Anyone else uncomfortable with the phrases "pound for pound" and "largest member" being used in the same sentence?
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Not me. It's comments like those that made me get a Slashdot account.
Re:Another fun fact about bugs... (Score:5, Interesting)
so that's where my Mountain Dew went. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
Moo (Score:1)
Daisy Chain of Ants (Score:2)
Perhaps we should be considering Trapjaw Internet protocol as an alternative to RFC 1149 [faqs.org]? There have been next to no improvements in that protocol - I think it's time...
Re: (Score:1)
Does this dethrone the shrimp? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Does this dethrone the shrimp? (Score:5, Informative)
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?
Re: (Score:2)
"They found that the jaws, used to capture prey and to defend the ant from harm, accelerate at 100,000 times the force of gravity, with each jaw generating forces exceeding 300 times the insect's body weight. The ants in this study had body masses ranging from 12.1 to 14.9 milligrams."
100,000 G's is pretty impressive IMHO. I think I'd have to fall into the sun to even come NEAR that, and I'm a fatboy-geek! (wouldn't work on earth- air resistence would limit me to 125-140 mph, I remember from
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
"Other animals with fast feeding strikes are the trap-jaw ant, at 17 meters per second, and the much smaller nematocysts of the hydra, which accelerate four times faster but achieve much lower speeds."
Re: (Score:2)
Tiger Pistol Shrimp Reigns Supreme (Score:2)
Wiki's got more cool info [wikipedia.org]
Jonah HEX
Nice videos (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Later, he was just Syndrome...hence the big "S" on his costume.
And remember...super ant or not....NO CAPES!
Ahh bith mahhh tonth (Score:5, Funny)
For more cool insect stuff ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know. Helen Holm seemed to have set (Score:2)
Space-Time Dimensions (Score:4, Funny)
Shouldn't that be in bites per second?
----------
Still here
http://blogoscare.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
KBPS (Score:2, Funny)
Then you could have a killa-bites-per-second.
I guess a jellyfish sting doesn't count (Score:4, Interesting)
http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/05/09/t
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I think they are referring to physical movement, not a cellular processes that looks to be an automatic response to stimuli.
The jaws of the trap jaw ants are automatic response too. And physical movement doesn't require any sort of intent on the part of the creatures. Let us not forget that there's a lot of people out there who think that anything dumber than a human is just automatically responding to stimuli.Re: (Score:2)
Ninja myths dispelled! (Score:4, Funny)
In that first video that ant disappears from the site of the ant that is watching him, trims his toenails and files his tax return in mid air before landing directly behind his unsuspecting neighbor all in less than a second. Amazing.
Re: (Score:2)
But this could change the very definition of what a "ninja" is, I mean we don't want certain circumstances where a Pirate could be called a "ninja" by definition, do we? It could upend several theories and debates as discussed on various forums & IRC channels!
Her. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
What are the odds? (Score:3, Funny)
So, you've met my x-wife and lived to tell about it, eh?
Re: (Score:2)
Talking Heads (Score:2)
has been clocked closing its mandibles at between 78 and 145 miles per hour
While reading this story, all I could think about were the talking heads on Fox News...
What, no lasers? (Score:2, Funny)
Here's what I think we should do:
(that was my first, 1-2-3 profit post... I feel a part of the community now)
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. (Score:3, Interesting)
And you thought YOU were a geek! (Score:2)
About these ants (Score:5, Informative)
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.
A GREAT Movie plot for Hollywood (Score:2)
Starring:
The One Ant: Keanu Reeves
The Shark: Dennis Hopper
And Sandra Bullock as herself.
That's it... (Score:2)
This just in... (Score:5, Funny)
"fastest self-powered predatory strike in the animal kingdom" my ass.
wings on a trap-jaw ant (Score:2)
Taking the bait (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It seems that you are suggesting that if one measures the magnitude of the velocity (that is, the speed) in the first
Re: (Score:2)
That's awfully rude. What has the derivative of acceleration ever done to you? You owe someone an apology.
(NB: Yes, I know that jerk is a real descriptor of a physical quantity--I'm a physics student. Coincidentally, that also explains why I found it necessary to make so lame a joke.)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Ants and computers (Score:4, Funny)
Fire Ants Are Here (Score:3, Interesting)
The fire ants are ver
Re: (Score:2)
Ahh, but I am not envious, for I can step on them. That would be the equivilent of a 5-foot-6 man being sat on f
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
"And then the gorilla's will freeze to death in the winter." (Simpson's show paraphrase- too lazy to look up the exact dialog for more accurate quote.)
This has not worked too well in the past from my experience/knowledge, as I recall Pennsylvania releasing some type of fly that was a natural foe of the gypsy moths that were denuding PA of it's forests. The flies turned out to be very aggressive against not only the gypsy moths, but also seemed to LOVE mammals also- worst fly bit
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Of course it's not the acceleration or speed that kills you, it's the impact.
It is Mostly Old Information (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
What is the fastest a part of the human body can move? A pitcher can throw up to 103mph (165 km/h) and obviously? the tip of their hand must have the same velocity. Is that the fastest human movement? Can a snapping finger go faster than that? Seems like we rank right up there
Re: (Score:2)
So... these calculations are probably off but do we win or what?
Re: (Score:2)