I was very excited to see this trap-jaw ant (Odontomachus sp.) in Panama. These impressive ants have been clocked snapping their jaws shut in less than a millisecond, moving at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour - the fastest-moving predatory appendages in the animal kingdom! In addition to providing excellent cutting power, these remarkable mandibles can be used to fling foes like a catapult with great force. The ants can even use them to flip themselves backwards as a defensive maneuver.
A tiny winged ant, possibly Crematogaster sp., at the mercury vapor light in Panama.
Spider wasp, Pompilidae, from Panama. These solitary wasps are so named for the family's tendency to paralyze spiders to provision their larvae.
