第 1021 號，共 1 402 號

Trap-jaw ant

Odontomachus bauri

只是會痛會痛，但不會對你造成嚴重傷害。

螫吃：肉

Trap-jaw ants are small ants with jaws that snap shut faster than almost anything else in the animal kingdom. They live in tropical places from southern Costa Rica to South America and the Galapagos Islands, and they are one of the most common ants around homes and gardens in southern Brazil.1

分布在

Southern Costa Rica, tropical South America, the West Indies (except Cuba and the Bahamas), the Galapagos Islands and northern Mexico1

北美洲, 南美洲

首頁

They are most often found in lowland areas, usually in tropical rainforests, though they tolerate dry conditions better than many related species. In gardens they nest under rocks, plant containers and vegetable residues, so people can meet them around homes.1

長度

1,2 cm (0,5 in)3

一般成體大小

最高速度

大約 0,19 km/h（0,12 mph）

在陸地上, 粗略估計

牠吃什麼？

It is a generalist predator that usually spends its time below leaf litter. It catches prey such as worms, spiders, termites, ants, butterflies, flies and beetles, with its jaws stinging and paralysing prey or crushing it to death.1

Trap-jaw ant 的照片 — Trap-jaw ant。照片：unknown。 CC0, iNaturalist.

怎麼認出牠

Its main feature is its dark brown colour.1
The head is 2.09–3.12 mm long.1
It has hairs on the first gastral tergum (a plate on the upper back of the abdomen), which stand up partly and are fairly even in length.1
Seen from the side, the petiolar node (a small segment between the body parts) is dome-shaped.1
Its mandibles (jaws) can open to about 180°.1

毒液力量

螫

毒液從螫針出來。

牠的毒液有什麼作用？

Its venom is thought to be mainly protein-based. The sting also releases a mixture of formic acid and protein, which may be highly toxic. In people, a sting usually causes burning at the site that fades within about an hour. Some people have a strong allergic reaction, with red, itchy, swollen patches on the skin and swollen eyelids.1

牠對人有多危險？

對人的危險: 疼痛可能會非常痛，但幾乎從來不會很嚴重。

Its bites are not severe for humans, but they can cause an allergic reaction. One case described a young girl with a strong reaction that lasted about a week. Such reactions were noted in about 16% of ant bites.1

牠害怕時會做什麼？

When its nest is disturbed, many workers make escape jumps, and if one lands on the intruder, workers start stinging it.1

如果牠螫人

清洗並冷敷螫傷處。
如果傷者呼吸困難、臉部或喉嚨腫脹，或覺得快要昏倒，這就是過敏急症：打緊急電話。

一定要先打緊急電話（112、000、911）。這是一般急救指引，不是醫療建議。急救基本知識

注意安全

絕對不要碰、抓或捉弄野生動物，就算是很小的動物，就算牠看起來在睡覺或已經死了也一樣。
給牠空間。如果遇到了，保持冷靜，慢慢往後退，讓牠自己離開。
如果被牠螫了：保持冷靜，保持不動，打緊急電話（112、000、911）或趕快去醫院。記住牠的樣子，有照片會很有幫助。

牠不是想來抓你。牠用毒液來捕捉食物或保護自己，而且牠更想躲起來。更多安全知識

在世界上的哪裡？

非洲亞洲歐洲北美洲南美洲澳洲與大洋洲

牠有多大？

牠有多長？

小到可以坐在你的指甲上

Trap-jaw ant 跟「你」比起來有多大？

只是在你的瀏覽器裡做算術。什麼都不會儲存，也不會傳送到任何地方。

牠有多快？

一隻花園蝸牛 大約 0,05 km/h (0,03 mph)

Trap-jaw ant 大約 0,19 km/h (0,12 mph)

一隻陸龜 大約 0,3 km/h (0,19 mph)

值得知道

小知識

Its jaws can close within about 130 microseconds on average, roughly 2300 times faster than the blink of an eye.1

It can jump more than 20 times its body length in a single jaw-propelled leap.1

Its jaws can exert a peak force of about 300 times its own body weight.1

During an escape jump, it can launch itself about 7 cm off the ground and grab onto nearby plants.1

Its jaws have the second-fastest predatory movement in the animal kingdom, after the dracula ant.1

Its nests are usually small, with fewer than about 200 ants, and neighbouring nests do not fight when they are close together but are aggressive toward each other when more than 10 m apart.1

破解迷思

迷思： Trap-jaw ants sting in the same way as bees.

真相： They do not have stingers like bees. Their stings are retractable and not barbed, so they can be used again.1

給毒液專家

學名: Odontomachus bauri
類群: 螞蟻
家人: Formicidae2
排序: Hymenoptera
各大洲: 北美洲, 南美洲
寶寶: The larvae go through three larval stages before moulting, and they do not spin a cocoon.1
對人的危險: 2 / 5: 疼痛3