Ant

An Australian 'ballista spider' weaves a silk trap for up to four hours. When a green tree ant trips its base, tensioned threads release, flinging it skyward in 42 milliseconds at about 15 times the g-force a fighter pilot endures.

Leaf-cutter ants farmed long before humans. They do not eat the leaves they cut; they use them as compost for fungi, then eat the crop. The ants even carry antibiotic-producing bacteria that help protect their fungal gardens from disease.

The giant anteater's tongue can extend about 60 cm and, unlike that of other mammals, attaches directly to the sternum instead of the throat. It flicks in and out up to 150–160 times per minute, snapping up ants and termites with backward-pointing papillae and sticky saliva.