Intraspecific variation in mandible strike performance of Odontomachus trap-jaw ants

To examine differences in inter- and intra-specific scaling relationships, we investigated the scaling of body size and force-production in two trap-jaw ant species (Odontomachus cephalotes and Odontomachus turneri). Unlike most trap-jaw species, O. cephalotes and O. turneri display a great deal of body size variation. We measured mandible strike speed and acceleration using high speed videography (70,000-110,000 frames s^-1), body length and mass, and jaw length and mass for both species. We then compared scaling relationships for these variables to a model for force-production based on interspecific, phylogenetically-corrected scaling across seven monomorphic trap-jaw ant species.