Terrifying photo shows what an ant looks like close up

An ant close-up looks more like that: https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediu...

Different species of ant perhaps? Also, the cnn photo crops the ant's eyes and mandibles.

sounds like heavy editing to make it seem like eyes are on the mandibles or something

Do you mean antennae? :)

Direct link to the image:

https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/221021163730-eugeniju...

You can't see the eyes in this pic. An ant is much cuter when you see it's big welcoming eyes.

Yes somehow the antlers and the spot where they are attached to the head make fake illusion of them being eyes, and the result is much more scary than reality. You can see a bit of his eye on the right.

That being said, if I would be tiny (or they would be massive) I would be scared like shit of them, since they would be unstoppable force catching everything they can and bringing back to the nest in their claws.

I wish I didn't give cnn a click for this...

why did i hear the sound of a dog growling in my head after seeing that picture...

It has a beard!

That's no beard. That's a moustache! :)