Monday, April 25, 2005

Amazonian Ant Trap

It's not your supermarket everyday Raid ant trap. In fact, it's not a trap for ants at all but rather a trap made by ants. I originally found this link on boingboing.

The ants (Allomerus decemarticulatus), which live in Amazonian plants called Hirtella physophora, construct a honeycomb-like structure out of their host plant's fibres from which they can stage an ambush.

The worker ants hide in the holes of this death trap with their mouths open wide, waiting for locusts, butterflies or other insects to land. When prey arrives they quickly seize its extremities, pulling on legs, arms and antennae until the hostage is rendered immobile. Once trapped, other ants from the colony arrive to sting and bite the prey until it is paralyzed.

(link) There's a video link there too worth checking out.

No comments: