Mandible-powered escape jumps in trap-jaw ants increase survival rates during predator-prey encounters

Animals use a variety of escape mechanisms to increase the probability of surviving predatory attacks. Antipredator defenses can be elaborate, making their evolutionary origin unclear. Trap-jaw ants are known for their rapid and powerful predatory mandible strikes, and some species have been observed to direct those strikes at the substrate, thereby launching themselves into the air away from a potential threat. This potential escape mechanism has never been examined in a natural context. We studied the use of mandible-powered jumping in Odontomachus brunneus during their interactions with a common ant predator: pit-building antlions. We observed that while trap-jaw ant workers escaped from antlion pits by running in about half of interactions, in 15% of interactions they escaped by mandible-powered jumping. To test whether escape jumps improved individual survival, we experimentally prevented workers from jumping and measured their escape rate. Workers with unrestrained mandibles escap...动物演化出多样的逃逸策略，以提升遭遇捕食者攻击时的生存概率。反捕食防御机制往往构造繁复，其演化起源至今仍不甚明晰。陷阱颚蚁（Trap-jaw ants）以其迅猛强劲的颚部钳击捕食能力闻名，研究人员已观测到部分物种会将这类钳击作用于基底，借此将自身弹射入空，脱离潜在威胁。但这类潜在的逃逸机制从未在自然环境中得到过研究验证。本研究针对布鲁氏大齿猛蚁（Odontomachus brunneus）与常见蚁类捕食者——筑坑蚁狮（pit-building antlions）的互动行为，探究其依托颚部动力实现跳跃逃逸的策略。观测结果显示：约半数互动场景中，陷阱颚蚁工蚁通过爬行逃离蚁狮陷阱；另有15%的场景中，它们借助颚部驱动的跳跃完成逃逸。为验证跳跃逃逸是否能提升个体存活率，本研究通过实验手段限制工蚁的跳跃能力，并测定其逃逸率。颚部活动不受限的工蚁逃逸[原文内容未完整呈现]