The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 133 Crossing the River Raid

In order to accommodate as much propellant and ammunition as possible, the digestive system of the Saw Ant was simplified as much as possible by Lin Yi.

And because the structure of the chewing-sucking mouthparts of later generations of ants is somewhat complicated, Lin Yi simply installed a chewing-sucking mouthpart behind the maxillary segment, where the mandibular segment and other parts of the lower jaw should have formed the "straw" or "tongue". The jaw base and chelicera-like structures of the mouthparts can play a limited role in bringing food into the mouth.

Of course, due to the degradation of the digestive system, the main way of eating for Saw Ants is to suck concentrated nutrients through the hose structure connected to the core supply bag. Therefore, the main function of this structure is to assist Saw Ants in swallowing Drop the "projectile".

And these "projectiles" will be produced directly from the mother's nest - the essence of the projectiles is an egg with a special structure. The shell of the egg is wrapped by an extremely thick exoskeleton layer, but the inside does not contain the embryo that develops into a grade individual. It is a small amount of liquid separated into two chambers.

The liquid components are naturally the two components that make up the propellant. Since the egg is not directly controlled by Lin Yi, he installed a special "fuse" for it.

In fact, the structure is very simple. There are some thorn-like structures on the inner wall of the shell. When the projectile hits the target, the huge force of the impact will cause the thorns to pierce the bag that stores the two liquids and enzymes, allowing them to mix together and start to react. .

There is a delay in this process, which allows the projectile to explode inside the enemy's body after penetrating the enemy's exoskeleton, further enhancing its lethality.

Not to mention the damage caused by the explosion itself, the deformed warhead after explosion can also open a fatal cavity in the enemy's body, causing horrific damage, damaging internal organs, and causing fatal bleeding.

In later generations, such "explosive bombs" were once considered inhumane weapons that violated international conventions, but now, in battles between nests, no one cares so much. Efficient killing is the most important thing.

In the end, the length of the main part of the Saw Ant was determined to be between 1.5 and meters. Counting its six well-developed legs, its visual effect was similar to that of the large beasts in Lin Yi's life in later generations.

With two sets of muscle systems and a double-layer shell, the powerful strength and defense brought by the composite armored exoskeleton allow it to theoretically easily tear apart large beasts of similar size. Due to the existence of biological firearms, it can even face humans armed with light weapons. , and may not be without the power to fight.

The "caliber" of the abdominal biological firearm is about two centimeters, which is about 20 millimeters. According to the classification standards of future generations, it can already be called a small-caliber cannon.

Of course, since the propellant cannot be compared with serious gunpowder for the time being, the power of this set of biological firearms is much inferior to that of a real 20 mm caliber cannon. However, by the same token, the recoil is also smaller. With the size of the Saw Ant, it is Muscle strength can almost be ignored.

The first batch of ten saw-toothed ants quickly began production in the land mother nest. Sufficient nutrients transported ashore from the sea allowed the land mother nest to produce a large number of projectiles.

At the same time, the second terrestrial mother nest also started the process of pupation with the assistance of exploration workers, preparing to produce more Saw Ants later.

These ten saw-toothed ants quickly pupated under the efficient ripening of symbiotic microorganisms in the mother nest, and were produced from the holes on the surface in the form of pupae. They curled up in one place to make the body easier to produce. Three pairs of legs and a pair of claws are spread out.

When the walking legs are moved, the end tarsal portion of these six strong walking legs has two tarsal claws and matching claw pad structures, which can move flexibly on various terrains. The strong legs also allow the saw ant to jump forward and pounce, which is quite deadly when paired with a pair of claw limbs.

Based on the current number of the opponent's spiders, these ten saw-toothed saw ants, combined with a large number of exploration workers, are enough to wipe out the entire nest. At this time, it was time to cross the river and launch a surprise attack - several huge pioneering female frogs swinging five pairs of paddling legs, slowly approached the shore, their backs surfaced, and approached where the saw-toothed saw ants were. Location.

Under Lin Yi's control, ten wild-toothed saw ants stepped onto the broad back of the pioneer mother. Immediately, the pioneer mothers swung their paddling legs again, operated the water jet propulsion system, and swam towards the other shore.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the strange arthropods wanted to climb to the top of the mound again and attacked halfway across.

But when the water cannon queens surfaced, the strange arthropods who had lost their memory immediately gave up the idea. Instead, they formed an array from a distance and attacked the pioneer queens crossing the river.

But at such a distance, the accuracy and power of the scorching liquid ejected by the strange arthropod was negligible, and it did not cause any substantial damage.

Under Lin Yi's control, several pioneering worms crossed their bodies, aiming the abdominal ends of all the crazy-toothed saw ants at the strange segmented worms arrayed under the mound in the distance, and opened fire in unison.

"Bang~!"

Although under the coordination of Lin Yi, each Saw Ant issued firing instructions to the abdominal organs through the nervous system at the same time, due to various reasons, the actual firing time was delayed to a certain extent, making the explosion sound extremely loud. They sounded one after another in a short period of time, echoing back and forth.

Amidst the explosions, the ends of the abdomens of the saw-toothed saw ants suddenly expanded and then contracted rapidly. Wisps of white smoke rose up with a pungent smell. In the compound eyes with a high refresh rate, dense pellets could be clearly seen shooting out at an alarming rate. A strange segmented chest insect that shoots into the distance at high speed with its head raised and the front half of its body raised.

The erect front body gives them a large area to be hit by bullets. The fired projectiles easily penetrate their not-thick exoskeletons, and their flat bodies even allow the projectiles to carry tissue fluid with them before they even have time to trigger the fuse. Come out through the body.

However, the powerful kinetic energy still knocked these strange arthrothoracic insects to the ground one after another, and tissue fluid gurgled outward, causing their lives to pass away with them.

One volley of shots destroyed most of the strange Segmented Chestworms, and two unlucky Centipede Spiders were also shot to the ground.

The saw-toothed saw ants who temporarily came to the ship's turret cleared the enemy's "shore defense firepower" in one round, and then the pioneering ants swung their paddling feet, quit fighting, and continued to approach the shore.

Upon seeing this, the remaining Mesoscythus sprang forward with eight legs and a pair of pedipalps swinging, and a pair of jackknife-like chelicerae began to accumulate strength, preparing to pop out and launch a fatal blow.

On Lin Yi's side, the distance between the pioneer mother and the river bank was close enough. The saw-toothed saw ants lowered their bodies one after another, exerted their six limbs, jumped up, and stepped firmly on the bank. Immediately, the saw-like upper jaws and the sharp ones behind them The claws were opened and they were heading towards the spiders. A formal land battle between the two nest groups was about to begin.

(End of this chapter)