Dracula ant’s killer bite makes it the fastest on Earth
The Dracula ant can strike 5,000 times faster than the blink of an eye, beating the old equivalent speed record by a factor of three. Dracula ants get their name for the way they sometimes drink the blood of their own young. But this week, the insects have earned a new claim to fame. Dracula ants of the species Mystrium camillae can snap their jaws together so fast, you could fit 5,000 strikes into the time it takes us to blink an eye. According to a new study, the Dracula ant, Mystrium camillae, can snap its mandibles at speeds of up to 90 meters per second (more than 200 mph ), making it the fastest animal movement on record. This means the blood-suckers wield the fastest known movement in nature, according to a study published this week in the journal Royal Society Open Science. Interestingly, the ants produce their record-breaking snaps simply by pressing their jaws together so hard that they bend. This stores energy in one of the jaws, like a...