World’s fastest snapper

The termite is the world’s snappiest animal, two entomologists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama have discovered.

Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven filmed the termite’s jaws at 40,000 frames per second, and found that they achieved a speed of 70.4 metres per second — albeit over a distance of only 1.76 mm.

Threatened by an intruder, the termite jams its mouthparts against each other using four sets of muscles so big that they fill half the space inside the insect’s head. This pent-up force also allows it to snap its jaws past one another at such speed in the intruder’s face.

According to New Scientist, this helps a termite defend its nest in the restricted space of the animals’ burrows.

Seid and Niven presented the findings at the International Congress of Neuroethology in Vancouver, Canada. — ANI

HOME