A sticky situation! Chameleon catches prey with long tongue

A LIZARD fires out its tongue with startling speed in an effort to snatch a meal from afar

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Sticky Situation! The chameleon fully extends its sticky appendage

The colourful panther chameleon is able to fully extend the sticky appendage in less than a microsecond - but somehow this grasshopper got away

The reptile's tongue is longer than its body and can extend at a rate of 26 body lengths per second - meaning it would take just 0.0030 seconds for it to fully extend.

Photographer Nicolas Reusens captured the images in Madagascar using a Canon 5D camera and four light sources

A panther chameleon extends its sticky tongue to capture a grasshopper

The 38-year-old from Barcelona, Spain, has been travelling the world documenting the fastest animals in existence.

And photographing the chameleon came with challenges, as Nicolas had to start clicking the shutter button before the reptile had begun to capture its prey.

He said: “First I had to place all the equipment where I thought the action would happen.

The chameleon can fully extend his tongue in less than a microsecond

“I had to study the bush were the chameleon was hiding and place the flashes around it.

“The place was replete of grasshoppers and other bugs so I just had to wait until one of them approached enough for the chameleon to attack, and cross my fingers for him to be hungry enough.

“After 30 minutes wait one grasshopper got close enough for the chameleon to launch the tongue.

The lizard fires out its tongue with startling speed

“I had everything ready and I only had to adjust the focus and get the right composition.

"To get this capture I had to start shooting my camera seconds before the chameleon threw his tongue, as this action is so extremely fast I would not have a chance to get 'the shot' if I started immediately after.”