The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 134 Queuing up to be shot

This is how the battle of similar morphological levels between Insecta and Arachnida, the two most diverse groups among the terrestrial groups of Arthropods, began.

The surrounding army of spiders opened and closed their chelicerae, and the crazy-toothed saw ants leaping onto the river bank from all directions came to kill them.

At this time, the biological firearm structures in the abdomens of the Crazy-toothed Saw Ants have completed loading, and their abdomens are bent again, and the projectiles are shot out, immediately clearing a path of flesh and blood among the spiders.

Projectiles that embed themselves in the flesh and explode inside the body can easily tear apart the flesh and blood of a spider that is not protected by an endoskeleton. Many killed spiders only have a few small holes on the outside, but are in pieces inside.

The internal organs without the protection of the endoskeleton were easily torn and shattered by the bullet-like warhead structure, and the internal organ fragments gurgled out along with the blood.

Ten crazy-toothed saw ants were divided into two batches, five of them fired a volley each time, and the other five quickly wriggled their muscles to send the projectiles into the gun chamber, and then injected liquid propellant for the next round of firing.

The sound of explosions is endless, and the dense barrage cuts across the line of death, sweeping diagonally like the sickle of death, harvesting the lives of the spiders.

Under the dense barrage of alternating shooting, a large number of mesopogon spiders fell down like wheat. The blood of azure worms, which are homologous to the horseshoe crabs, gushes out and dyes the dense lichen and vascular plants blue.

More spiders moved their appendages, trying to use their speed to reach the ants and interrupt their attacks. But Lin Yi would not give them this chance. Round after round of projectiles shot out alternately, continuing to kill the spiders one by one.

The scene was like a charging cavalry facing a volley of firearms. Amidst the explosions, projectiles shot out again and again, penetrating the exoskeleton of the spider and bursting inside its body.

There seems to be an invisible wall in front of the Zhongtu Horrible Spiders, which cannot be crossed even half a step. As the smoke filled the air, the pungent smell accompanied by the smell of copper ions floated over the battlefield, creating the unique smell of gunpowder smoke of this era.

The Saw Ant sacrifices its digestive system in exchange for a huge amount of ammunition, which can fully support dozens of shots. For large-caliber shotguns, this number is not small.

Not long after, the battlefield was already a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​​​blood. Copper-containing blue blood, yellow-white tissue fluid and visceral fragments were mixed and flowing. A large number of the remains of the spiders were piled up like a mountain, which was particularly hideous.

And among the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, after countless rounds of volleys, the ammunition was finally running out. The crazy-toothed saw ants stepped out with their six thick limbs, flattened their abdomens, waved their claws, and shot at the remaining ones. Kill the spider.

The chelicerae open and close to kill the saw-toothed saw ants, but the flexibility brought by the six thick and long appendages allows the saw-toothed saw ants' nearly two-meter body to move flexibly through the group of spiders, with their saw-like jaws Opening and closing its claw limbs to tear apart the spiders one by one.

Although the saw-like jaws are not known for their bite force, they are still enough to saw through the not-so-thick exoskeleton of the Mesozoon spider and tear the flesh underneath. The claw limbs can easily penetrate the body of each spider, and hang it on the claw limbs like a skewer of candied haws.

Just like when the fearless soldiers rushed into the Zhiluojiao Group, it was not a battle at all, but a massacre. The perfect form from the eusocial insects of later generations, coupled with Lin Yi's deliberate improvements, is not comparable to the early arachnids in the form of the horned spider.

What's even more terrible is that the jackknife-like chelicerae of the Mesoscythus spider is designed to deal with individuals smaller than itself. It does not work well against the tall saw-toothed saw ants.

The long saw-like jaws and sharp claws on the back of the saw-toothed saw ant bring it a larger attack range, and it can often tear apart the body of the spider without waiting for it to get close.

Seeing that the situation was good, a large number of exploration workers took the opportunity to pour out of the river, followed closely behind the Saw Ants, cleaned up the remaining corpses, and assisted the Saw Ants in further attacking the Central Horrible Spider. The few remaining strange arthropods tried to climb up the mound to suppress the attack of saw-toothed saw ants, but they were literally suppressed by the overwhelming water cannons in the river behind and had to lie low on the ground. on, waiting for an opportunity to prepare to attack.

This also allowed them to temporarily escape the fate of being killed by the sawn-toothed saw ants' biological shotguns, and they are still alive today.

Ten crazy-toothed saw ants, like a sharp hacksaw, saw through the defense line of the spiders and penetrated directly into the core of the opponent's mound group.

Under the violent attack of saw-toothed saw ants like a storm, this terrestrial arthropod nest also came up with countermeasures - those small insect individuals that looked like later Dubia cockroach females swarmed out of the mound. Come out and kill the Saw Ants.

A dense swarm of ten centimeter-sized insects that resembled wingless cockroaches swarmed in. This was a scene that was enough to make a patient with trypophobia die on the spot.

The mesoscythid spiders, which can reach half a meter in size, are mixed in among them, forming a standard infantry-tank coordination tactic to kill the Crazy-toothed Saw Ants and exploratory workers.

But at this time, this is just the last desperate effort of the hive mind behind the terrestrial arthropod colony.

The large jaws and claws of the Crazy-toothed Saw Ant are not suitable for dealing with such a small and numerous enemy, so it temporarily retreats backwards, bends its abdomen, and shoots out two rounds of barrage to prevent the remaining ant from approaching.

Afterwards, the exploratory workers stepped forward, using their two pairs of chelicerae to shoot left and right, into the group of wingless cockroaches - their two pairs of chelicerae were perfect for dealing with such small and numerous enemies.

As the tissue fluid splashed, each exploratory cockroach waved its chelicerae to fight its way through the cockroach swarm.

A pair of claws with sharp spines can easily penetrate the body of a wingless cockroach, while the pair of claws with fine serrations can directly cut the body of a wingless cockroach in two and throw it aside at will.

At the rear, the Crazy-toothed Saw Ants resumed their alternating shooting and continued to harvest the lives of the Terror Spiders. The blue insect blood and the yellow-green tissue fluid intertwined and surged out, making it especially ferocious.

Another bloody massacre. No matter whether it was a spider, a strange arthropod, or a wingless cockroach, they were all slaughtered with the cooperation of the saw ants and the exploration workers.

A large number of exploration workers swarmed forward, waving their strong chelicerae, and began to tear apart the structure on the surface of the mound, tearing apart the dense lichen layer to reveal the compacted sand underneath.

Lin Yi was somewhat interested in the opponent's frontal structure, which was similar to a termite mound. How the other party built such a huge building compared to its size made him a little curious.

Moreover, under those mounds covered with lichen, it is likely that the other party's mother nest is located. Absorbing and analyzing it will undoubtedly bring Lin Yi's gene editing capabilities to a higher level.

Anyway, now is the time to confirm the loot.

(End of this chapter)