Mystrium camillae (often called the Dracula Ant) is a species in the subfamily Amblyoponinae. It is found across the Indo-Australian / Oriental region — including countries such as Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Vietnam, and others. Workers are moderate in size (about 5-8 mm typically), with a distinctly wide head and very long narrow mandibles. One of the most remarkable features of this species is its extremely fast mandible snap: the mandibles act like a spring-loaded trigger and can snap shut at very high speed, making them among the fastest moving appendages recorded in the animal kingdom.
Mystrium camillae
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Habitat & nest structure
These ants tend to live in forested tropical and subtropical habitats. They are found under leaf litter, in rotting wood, under stones, and sometimes in soil. Their nests are relatively hidden and dark, with galleries rather than open formicaria. -
Feeding / foraging behaviour
They are predators, especially of small arthropods; centipedes are among their prey. Their snap-jaw is used to stun prey. In addition, they exhibit a peculiar form of feeding involving larval haemolymph: queens (and possibly other reproductives) gently pierce larvae to feed off their haemolymph, while not killing them, using these larvae somewhat like a living food reservoir. -
Colony size & social structure
Colonies are usually fairly small, with a limited number of workers and a queen. Workers are polymorphic, meaning there are different sizes/forms among the worker caste. The reproductive structure is somewhat primitive: reproductives may include queens and/or wingless reproductives depending on colony. -
Defence & special traits
The standout trait is the snap-jaw mechanism: the ants press their long mandibles together, storing energy until one mandible slips over the other, releasing the energy in a lightning-fast snap. This is both a hunting tool and defence. Also the larval haemolymph feeding is unusual and almost vampiric-sounding, giving these ants the common name Dracula Ants.
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