Trap-Jaw Ants: They Float Through the Air With The Greatest of Ease

So, I've recently discovered the discovery of trap-jaw ants!!! This is going to sound really geeky, but check out the mandibles on that baby! (The insect it is crushing between its mandibles is a small cricket.) Their mandibles close at a rate of 35 to 64 metres per second, apparently breaking the record for "the fastest self-powered predatory strike in the animal kingdom." (Does anyone the predatory strike rate for venus fly-traps?)

But apart from their chiselled, muscular mandibles, and the speed with which they kill, there's SOMETHING ELSE WHICH MAKES THEM REALLY, REALLY COOL!

"Simply by snapping their jaws against the ground or the body of an intruder, the ants can catapult themselves out of harm’s way, achieving heights of up to 8.3 centimeters and horizontal distances of up to 39.6 centimeters." (from the Cal Academy of Science article about trap-jaw ants)

They're sort of like insect-ninjas! For video-footage of them catapulting themselves through the air, click here.