spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Gronenberg, W.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Gronenberg, W.

Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol 199, Issue 9 2021-2033, Copyright © 1996 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The trap-jaw mechanism in the dacetine ants Daceton armigerum and Strumigenys sp

W Gronenberg

Ants of three different subfamilies, among them the tribe Dacetini, have evolved very fast snapping mandibles called trap-jaws. The two dacetine genera examined, the large Daceton and the small Strumigenys, employ the same mechanism for their mandible strike. Video analysis reveals that, in Strumigenys sp., the strike takes less than 2.5 ms. It is released within 5 ms by contact of trigger hairs on the labrum. The ants employ a catapult mechanism to generate such a fast movement. Before the strike, the mandibles are opened wide and locked in the open position by the labrum, which functions as a latch. They stay open even when the large slow closer muscles contract. Upon trigger hair stimulation, the labrum is pulled backwards by a small, fast trigger muscle. The mandibles are thus freed from the catch and close rapidly. This reflex is controlled by giant sensory and motor neurones in the labral neuromere that are probably monosynaptically coupled. The short latency of the reflex thus results from the combination of a catapult mechanism, fast trigger muscles, high neuronal conduction velocities and small synaptic delays. Comparison with the trap-jaw mechanism of the ant genus Odontomachus reveals a remarkable example of convergent evolution.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
J. C. Spagna, A. I. Vakis, C. A. Schmidt, S. N. Patek, X. Zhang, N. D. Tsutsui, and A. V. Suarez
Phylogeny, scaling, and the generation of extreme forces in trap-jaw ants
J. Exp. Biol., July 15, 2008; 211(14): 2358 - 2368.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Exp. Biol.Home page
S. N. Patek, B. N. Nowroozi, J. E. Baio, R. L. Caldwell, and A. P. Summers
Linkage mechanics and power amplification of the mantis shrimp's strike
J. Exp. Biol., October 15, 2007; 210(20): 3677 - 3688.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. N. Patek, J. E. Baio, B. L. Fisher, and A. V. Suarez
Multifunctionality and mechanical origins: Ballistic jaw propulsion in trap-jaw ants
PNAS, August 22, 2006; 103(34): 12787 - 12792.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1996