These jaws are locked in place by an internal mechanism, and can snap shut on prey or objects when sensory hairs on the inside of the mandibles are touched.

Odontomachus ants can simply lock and snap their jaws again if one bite is not enough, or to cut off bits of larger food.

[citation needed] The ants were also observed to use their jaws as a catapult to eject intruders or fling themselves backwards to escape a threat.

[10] In the United States, O. haematodus was "recorded in Alabama back in 1956, but now researchers have officially confirmed that the species has spread across the Gulf Coast, at least as far east as Pensacola, Florida.

[12] Odontomachus relictus, however, is only found in "endangered scrub habitat on central Florida’s ancient sand ridges.