Odontomachus cf. bauri - Trap-Jaw Ant / Formiga-de-Estalo (Emery, 1892)

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Description: The individual portrayed is a male of Odontomachus sp., possibly Odontomachus bauri as this is one of the most common species in this specific area of distribution and my suspicions shot skywards when I saw a picture of a male of Odontomachus bauri which I provided below, containing the same thorax designs and features. They belong in the order Hymenoptera, suborder Apocrita, infraorder Aculeata, superfamily Formicoidea, family Formicidae, subfamily Ponerinae and tribe Ponerini. They are commonly known in Brazil as a whole as "formigas-de-estalo" and specifically in the Northwestern states as "trinca-cunhão".

The males of Odontomachus differ incredibly from the females, which possess very strong jaw muscles and very large, elongate trap-jaws which stays open horizontally similar to open scissors at 180º when they are seeking prey. The trap is triggered when the prey touches the frontal trigger setae beneath the mandibles; the jaws click shut at incredible speeds and force. In fact, this is the fastest movement ever measured in any animal. Kinematic data indicate that the force of the jaws closure in Odontomachus scales positively with body size, while acceleration scales inversely with body size. The reason to this nature for foraging is still unknown. The workers generally feel their prey with their antennae, proceeding to withdraw the antennae and snaps the mandibles shut on the prey, which is held in the mandibles and lifted off the substrate, stung, and then transported to the nest. The stinging part is sometimes not necessary. This behaviour can suffer changes depending on the prey, and multiple mandibular strikes can be used to stun or dismember prey. Workers are very cautious during prey capture, especially when they are dealing with potentially dangerous prey. A few workers learned to avoid overly dangerous prey.

Some Odontomachus conduct rapid mandibular strikes for other uses, with the force being used to bounce to safety or onto intruders or eject intruders away. They can also use their mandibles for basic tasks such as nest construction and brood care.

Males (the subject portrayed) lack the intimidating appearance of the females and lack their trap-jaws. The antennal segment count of males reach a number of thirteen, while a worker's count reaches twelve. The male and the worker's antennal club are absent. Dental count on workers are between 3 and 20, while on males that count reaches zero. The mandibles are reduced and non-opposable. Their genital capsule is not fully retractile and the cerci are well developed and conspicuous. The petiolar node in Odontomachus males is more or less conical, with narrowly rounded or even pointed apex. Counting the stretched antennae, the subject portrayed measured approximately 1,3cm in length and possessed well developed wings. The head is broad, with half to just about all of the sides of the head occupied by large compound eyes with, generally, weak emarginate mesal margins in frontal (dorsal) view and weak emarginate lateral margins as seen from the sides. The clypeus is small and convex, with convex or nearly straight anterior free margin. The ocelli are large and close to each other, normally situated on an eminence. The mandibles are small and narrow with acute to bluntly rounded apices. The labrum is small, bilobed, with a median cleft, fitting into the space between the mandibles. The antennae have a short, cylindrical scape and even shorter pedicel. The trunk is rather robust. Pygidium produced as a sharp, slender downcurved spine in all known Odontomachus males. The hypogygium is linguiform, with parallel sides and rounded or subtruncate apex. The legs and tarsal claws are slender with or without a small submedian tooth. More information on the source provided below.

In addition to the incredibly powerful trap-jaws, Odontomachus also feature a stinger at the apex of the abdomen which is also used to harm prey. Salticidae spiders of the genus Enoplomischus SEEM to mimic Odontomachus ants.

Most species can be found in tropical and subtropical zones, but some can be found in temperate and even semi-desert zones. The nesting behaviour of Odontomachus often include the construction of nests in the soil, rotting wood, arboreally or in abandoned termite nests.

In general they prey arthropods, but some specialize on certain prey such as termites. Still, Odontomachus are carnivorous ants. The colony size varies a lot between species. Most species possess typically winged queens, but some do possess wingless queens. Some queens perform tasks that are typical to workers, such as foraging outside of the nest. It's possible to hear a clicking sound when the traps are triggered due to the incredible speed and force that the jaws shut close. Bites and stings from females of Odontomachus are painful and can cause local burning, which can be intense. Moments later, a skin swelling that varies in duration and that can be very itchy might appear. They are harmless to the life of humans and animals, though.

They are leaf litter ants that forages individually most of the time underneath the leaf litter. The Odontomachus bauri is distributed throughout the Neotropical zone. Colonies establish foraging territories and tend to avoid conspecific territories of neighboring nests, but are normally found in forests of many kinds, suburban habitats and even urban habitats.

Text revision by Marina de Azevedo Guerra (www.facebook.com/marina.guerragymnopaedist)

Subfamilies of Formicidae:

Aenictinae
Aenictogitoninae
Agroecomyrmecinae
Amblyoponinae
Aneuretinae
† Armaniinae (extinct)
† Brownimeciinae (extinct)
Cerapachyinae
Dolichoderinae
Dorylinae
Ecitoninae
Ectatomminae
† Formiciinae (extinct)
Formicinae
Heteroponerinae
Leptanillinae
Leptanilloidinae
Martialinae
Myrmeciinae
Myrmicinae
Paraponerinae
Ponerinae
Proceratiinae
Pseudomyrmecinae
† Sphecomyrminae (extinct)

Incertae Sedis:

† Calyptites (extinct)
Condylon
† Cretopone (extinct)
† Curticorna (extinct)
† Eoanictites (extinct)
† Eoformica (extinct)
† Fonsecahymen (extinct)
† Gerontoformica (extinct)
† Klondikia (extinct)
† Kohlsimyrma (extinct)
† Myanmyrma (extinct)
† Petropone (extinct)

Tribes within Ponerinae:

Platythyreini
Ponerini
Thaumatomyrmecini
Incertae Sedis

Genera within Ponerini:

Anochetus
† Archiponera (extinct)
Asphinctopone
Belonopelta
Bothroponera
Centromyrmex
† Cephalopone (extinct)
Cryptopone
† Cyrtopone (extinct)
Diacamma
Dinoponera
Dolioponera
Emeryopone
Feroponera
Harpegnathos
Hypoponera
Leptogenys
Megaponera
† Messelepone (extinct)
Myopias
Odontomachus
Odontoponera
Pachycondyla
Phrynoponera
Paltothryreus
Plectroctena
Ponera
Promyopias
† Protopone (extinct)
Psalidomyrmex
Simopelta
Streblognathus
Austroponera (?)
Ectomomyrmex (?)
Iroponera (?)
Parvaponera (?)
Pseudoponera (?)
Rasopone (?)

Sources:

Picture of a male of Odontomachus bauri, one of the most common species in this specific area of distribution, containing thorax designs and a few other traits that can be compared to the subject in my picture: doidoporformigas.blogspot.com.br/2010/12/odontomachus-bau...

Ant Wiki (Odontomachus): www.antwiki.org/wiki/Odontomachus

Ant Wiki (New World Ponerinae key): www.antwiki.org/wiki/Key_to_New_World_Genera_of_Ponerinae

Wikipedia (PT): pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontomachus

Wikipedia (EN): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odontomachus

Lackluster Wikipedia article in Portuguese showcasing the Brazilian common name of trap-jaw ants but without further reliable details and explanations: pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formiga-de-estalo

Feeding type: Predator.

PROJECT NOAH (Português): www.projectnoah.org/spottings/1747050567

Taken in: Brasil / Ceará / Fortaleza / Estância (show map)

Taken on: March 10, 2018

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