The ant with the fastest movement of any animal on Earth
This ant's jaws snap shut at 140 miles per hour, the fastest known movement in the animal kingdom.
Which one is REALLY true about the Trap-Jaw Ant?
The short version
The trap-jaw ant cocks its spring-loaded mandibles wide open and locks them until trigger hairs are touched, then snaps them shut in under a millisecond at over 140 mph — and by striking the ground instead, it uses the recoil to catapult itself into the air.
Why it's so weird
- ✓The Trap-Jaw Ant snaps its spring-loaded jaws shut in under a single millisecond, one of the fastest movements ever recorded in any animal.
- ✓The Trap-Jaw Ant cocks its mandibles wide open and locks them there, waiting with tiny trigger hairs held out in front of its face.
- ✓The Trap-Jaw Ant closes those jaws at over one hundred and forty miles per hour, roughly two thousand times faster than a blink.
- ✓The Trap-Jaw Ant fires its jaws straight down at the ground and rides the recoil into the air like a living catapult.
- ✓The Trap-Jaw Ant strikes with a force hundreds of times its own body weight.
You could line up about 122 of them along a 7-year-old!
The full story
This ant's jaws are the fastest known movement of any animal on Earth. Meet the trap-jaw ant, a hunter armed with a pair of spring-loaded mandibles. It cocks them wide open, locks them in place, and waits with tiny trigger hairs extended in front of its face. When prey brushes against those hairs, the jaws snap shut in under a single millisecond, at speeds of over one hundred and forty miles per hour. That is roughly two thousand times faster than the blink of an eye, hitting with a force hundreds of times the ant's own body weight. And there is a second use. If the ant fires its jaws against the ground instead, the recoil launches it into the air. Follow for more weird animal facts.
Watch the 45-second version
Watch it on the channel.
Trap-Jaw Ant gallery
Check what you learned
No score, no pressure — just see what stuck. Tap Real or Fake.
“The Trap-Jaw Ant snaps its spring-loaded jaws shut in under a single millisecond, one of the fastest movements ever recorded in any animal.”
“The Trap-Jaw Ant has a real third eye on top of its skull, complete with a lens and a retina that senses light.”
“The Trap-Jaw Ant cocks its mandibles wide open and locks them there, waiting with tiny trigger hairs held out in front of its face.”