i just discovered alex wild’s website, www.myrmecos.net, which has some incredible photos of ants and other insects.
he also has photos of odontomachus bauri – a central- & south-american species of jaw-dropping ants which can shut their mandibles at the speed of 230km/h, taking far less than a millisecond to attack their prey!
they have also been reported to use the mechanism to catapult themselves out of dangerous situations: .mov
pretty cool, in my view.
more information: UC berkeley news article