Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff. I'm Lauren voc Obaum and this is another classic episode from our previous host, Christian Sagar. This one talks about perhaps the smallest of the completely wild prehistoric creatures, the hell ant. Hey brain Stuff is Christian Sagar. Here, fire ants, carpenter ants, bull ants. There are a lot of ant species that can cause a great deal of harm. The worst one alive today, according to the Guinness World Records,
is the bulldog aunt. It has killed at least three humans, some within fifteen minutes. But perhaps the worst aunt ever was the hell aunt, a prehistoric insect that was recently discovered incased in a chunk of Myanmar amber dating to the Late Cretaceous period. Evolutionary biologist Philip Barden of the New Jersey Institute of Technology and his team wrote about the hell aunt discovery in the journal Systemic Entomology. The hell aunt got its name from its anatomy and behavior.
Instead of having a typical mouth, the hell aunt had blades that stuck upward, think like tusks, plus a horn that was reinforced with metal. Scientists don't know for sure how the hell aunt used its unusual appendages, but they have some theories. First, it seems clear that the ant's tusks and horn were mainly used for catching prey, So here's one possible m O. When it came to finding dinner. When a tasty insect passed nearby, the hell ance jaw tusks would flip the insect up and onto its horn,
impaling it. Spearing prey does take a toll, though, which is probably why the hell ants horn was clad with metal. And if that isn't gruesome enough, researchers say this prehistoric insect might have had some vampire like tendencies to When the ants snagged its prey, its tusk like jaws clothes to form a gutter, which may have been a means of funneling the insects blood right down into the ant's gullet.
The hell ants, scientifically known as Lingua mirmes vlady, was discovered in a chunk of amber that was nine million years old. Although it's unusual appendages were likely used to catch its food, researchers say they may have occasionally been used defensively. This is not the only insects sporting metal, either. Some present day termite species actually have zinc and manganese in their mandibles. However, there are no modern ants similarly equipped.
Today's episode was written by Melanie Redzeeki McManus and produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Clang. For more in this monts of other metal topics, visit how Stuff Works dot M. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. Or more podcasts in my heart Radio visit the heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows