Odontomachus rixosus (Red Trap Jaw Ant)
Odontomachus rixosus (Red Trap Jaw Ant)
A visually striking species of tropical ant due to its large size and peculiar set of wide opening mandibles. Their slender body & ability to jump when threatened or conversely, hunting for prey, make it obvious as to why this is a hugely popular species of Ponerine ant kept in the hobby. This species is known to exhibit one of the fastest animal movements as scientists have observed jaws clamping down at a whopping 60 m/s. To put things into perspective, this is x2300 faster than one can blink!
O.rixosus is naturally found throughout South and S.East Asia, particularly amongst hot & humid habitats such as ravine forests or rubber plantations. They typically create very 'simplistic' nesting infrastructure that is comprised of single large tunnels connected often to a a limited series of large chambers. Sometimes, one can find them nesting within hollow crevices created by plants' root systems.
Interestingly, scientists have discovered that amongst other species of ants, this particular type of hunting ant, is one of the natural enemies of termite colonies and quite often, worker ants will forage and target termite workers with their long mandibles and sharp sting.
In terms of captive keeping, these ants require a high level of humidity (70-80%) and temperatures of 24-27C for optimum growth and development. They commonly nest in bioactive/naturalistic setups where cocoa peat and clay is often used as a substrate.
Whilst these ants will feed from sugary substances, as most other ants of the Ponerinae subfamily, they depend mostly on protein sources, i.e. live insects such as crickets or roaches.
All in all, a very interesting species of ant to keep that doesn't require a large space and relatively easy to keep.
It is illegal and strictly frowned upon to release any non-native ants into the wild.
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