The first part of the knowledge, in addition to the history of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom, also includes the organizational structure of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom.
Ant colonies in human society, such as a nest of big-headed ants, although there are differences between queen ants, male ants, soldier ants and worker ants, these differences are only due to differences in physiological structure and division of labor. For example, the queen and male ants are responsible for reproduction, and the soldier ants are responsible for reproduction. Responsible for fighting enemies, hunting larger prey and dismembering prey, worker ants undertake most of the daily tasks: building and repairing nests, searching and transporting food, fighting enemies, and patrolling. However, there is no clear command system in this division of labor. Whether it is foraging, reproduction or war, all ants act according to genetically determined instincts. Queen ants and male ants cannot command ordinary soldier ants and worker ants. Instead, they act when needed. Sometimes, the worker ants will force the queen to lay eggs or move.
But this big-headed ant kingdom is different. There is already the prototype of the power structure in human civilization here. In the kingdom of big-headed ants, the division of labor between soldier ants and worker ants is not much different from that of their counterparts in the human world, except that the overall IQ is one level higher; the queen ant is the main force in reproducing offspring and enjoys generous treatment, although there are It has an intelligence comparable to that of a male ant, but in the kingdom it is just a reproductive machine and has no other powers.
And male ants, the ant species that have the least presence in ant nests in the human world, have become a vital role in the ant kingdom.
Male ants have the best minds in the entire ant colony and can complete complex thinking, communication, and learning actions. They have become the actual commanders and controllers of the big-headed ant kingdom, as well as the actual founders and maintainers of ant civilization.
The main responsibility of ordinary male ants, that is, kings, is to lead hundreds of subordinates as grassroots commanders in wars. Although they can also command other soldier ants and worker ants on weekdays, they generally do not exercise this power. All newly born kings will receive education from the older kings and learn the knowledge and skills they must master in their own kingdom, just like the old king and senior brother teach the protagonist. In addition to learning, there is also practical education, such as going out for hunting and participating in the war for the first time after getting married. The protagonist of the hunt has already participated once, and it left a psychological shadow; but the protagonist of the war has not caught up yet, and even the senior brother, although he is the candidate for the oldest king, has not yet participated. Only after the marriage flight, the young king is considered an adult and is eligible to participate in the first battle and perform the duties of a military commander. The wedding flight is different from what the protagonist imagined. It is not a group of male and female ants flying out of the nest to find partners and mate in the sky. Maybe the ancestors of big-headed ants did this, but now the nuptial flight has evolved into a ritual. At the beginning of every summer, all the first-time sexually mature male and female ants in the secondary nest and main nest will come to the main nest. In the open space outside the nest, a free mating ceremony is carried out. Since the number of male ants far outnumbers the female ants, only a few lucky male ants will be able to pass on their genes. Afterwards, all male and female ants will tear off their wings and return to the nest to become queens and kings, completing the adult ceremony.
The kings in the big-headed ant kingdom are generally old and experienced male ants. They not only become legion commanders during wartime, but also command the armies of several or even dozens of kings. In normal times, the King's Council composed of five hundred kings is also responsible for deciding important matters related to the kingdom, such as accepting divine decrees, deciding wars, splitting new ethnic groups to build sub-nests, etc. The king will always be stationed in the main nest, and the number is fixed at five hundred. Only when a vacancy occurs, the number will be filled from the ordinary kings according to seniority.
There is also a special kind of male ant in the main nest, called the oldest king. For unknown reasons, the oldest king often lives longer than other male ants. He is often the eldest in the ant colony, and only they can inherit the inheritance. Legendary information from ancient times. When the oldest king is alive, he will choose a young male ant with higher intelligence level as his successor and impart knowledge and skills to him. After the death of the oldest king, the successor automatically becomes the new oldest king. However, the oldest king is equal to the king in other rights and cannot command other kings. The Lao Wang will basically not go to the outside world to participate in wars.
All male ants are male, while the queen, soldier and worker ants are female. The difference is that the queen ant has fully developed reproductive organs, while the soldier ants and worker ants do not. Queen ants will also consciously secrete a hormone that can inhibit the development of the reproductive organs of soldier ants and worker ants in the nest. When the number of queens in the ant nest is insufficient, only specially placed ant eggs can develop into new queens without being affected by hormones.
The above is the organizational structure of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom.
In addition, the protagonist also curiously learned about some situations of the main nest and the secondary nest.
The current main nest of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom has more than ten queens, one oldest king, five hundred kings, tens of thousands of kings and hundreds of thousands of soldier ants and worker ants. The scale is larger than any of the secondary nests.
There are many types of auxiliary nests. One is the agricultural auxiliary nest not far from the main nest, and there are more than 200 of them. There is only one queen and dozens of kings in these secondary nests, and there are thousands of soldier ants and worker ants. These secondary nests will transport food to support the main nest when the main nest is short of food, and will also dispatch troops to coordinate when the main nest is recruited. Combat.
One is a military sub-nest near the river, with 28 nests. These secondary nests are the front line against the pavement ant barbarians. There is no queen, but there are dozens or hundreds of kings, and more than ten thousand ants are stationed there. Among them, there are many soldier ants and few worker ants. The food they collect is generally only enough to feed the garrisoned army. . These secondary nests are often destroyed in war and then rebuilt. Since the military sub-nest has no queen and cannot produce new ants on its own, it can only rely on allocations from the main nest to replenish natural or military ant colony losses.
The last type is the sub-nest in remote areas, with more than a hundred, such as the "Dongyang City Sub-nest". These secondary nests are nests established in newly developed territories because the main nest or other secondary nests are no longer able to support too many ant colonies, so the excess ant organizations actively migrate out. Because this kind of secondary nest is far away from the main nest, it generally does not transport food with the main nest, and only has a low level of communication. Remote sub-nests generally have only one or two queens and fewer kings, with thousands to tens of thousands of ants. The remote secondary nest also has an important role, which is to serve as a backup for the main nest. If the main nest is destroyed, the secondary nest in the remote area will become independent and become the main nest of the new ant colony, ensuring that the genes of this kingdom can continue. In the history of the Big-headed Ant Empire, there have indeed been cases where the main nest was destroyed and then re-emerged relying on the secondary nest.
