The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 135 Crops and Land Industries

The structure of these mounds is slightly less solid than the termite mounds of later generations, but the chelicera structure of the explorer is not suitable for digging soil - it is like digging with a fork, and the efficiency cannot be higher.

Of course, it is also very simple to create a grade with appendages suitable for digging. But before that, Lin Yi was not going to be idle. Instead, he began to control the exploration tool to scrape off the strange lichens growing on the surface of the mound. .

At the same time, several amphibious versions of nesting workers have also begun production, preparing to establish terrestrial mother nests on this shore, and continue to develop vigorously while the prototype of future terrestrial ecosystems has not yet been formed.

The corpses of wingless cockroaches, strange arthrothoracic insects, and mesothorax spiders were collected by exploration workers, recovered from the terrestrial mother nests, and destroyed.

The Brood's ability to destroy corpses and traces was top-notch. Soon, a large number of corpses on the battlefield were cleared away, leaving only the land soaked in the blood of azure worms and fragmented vascular plants torn apart by projectiles.

Several mother nests were quickly established among the original mounds on the other side of the river. Their exoskeleton-covered shapes seemed incompatible with those mounds that resembled termite mounds.

However, with such a large-scale expansion and the ecosystem of this era, it is difficult to support a large number of brood nests and saw-toothed saw ants, as well as all kinds of strange combat units that will inevitably appear in the future.

In the sea, there are clusters of sea ringworms and whisker-like structures under the floating mother nests that can filter plankton in the sea. Naturally, there is no need to worry about nutrients.

However, the situation on land is different from that in the ocean. It is not an ecosystem where big fish eat small fish and small fish suck plankton. The bottom layer of the food chain is borne by plants as producers. If you want to obtain nutrients efficiently, you need to have more trouble.

At present, Lin Yi still has not solved the problem of integrating plant gene sequences. Now, if he wants to carry out photosynthesis, he still has to rely on external forces.

Apparently, the terrestrial arthropod nest also encountered the same problem, and their solution was very simple, which was those strange lichens.

Lichen is a symbiosis of algae or primitive moss and fungi. According to the current analysis results of the mother nest, this special lichen is quite rich in nutrients.

These mound groups are all covered by this single type of lichen, and previously, Lin Yi also observed those wingless cockroaches taking care of these lichens, proving that they were "crops" specially planted by the other party.

Lin Yi suspected that the other party's gene editing method had integrated plant and animal gene sequences and integrated these strange lichens into the nest group.

But the other party's primitive methods dispelled his suspicions - the gene sequences of wingless cockroaches contain digestive system gene fragments that can digest these mixtures of algae and fungi. These lichens have indeed been found in the stomach contents of wingless cockroaches.

If it is really part of the opponent's nest, they can completely connect it to the mother nest, inject the nutrients produced by photosynthesis directly into the mother nest, and then transform it into a finished individual or its food, instead of directly eating it using the most primitive method. and digested directly in the individual's digestive system.

The genetic sequence of the strange Arthrothorax also has a structure for digesting these lichens. After all, Arthrothorax is a vegetarian. On the other hand, Lin Yi's analysis of the Mesozoa spiders showed that these guys were still pure carnivores.

In the end, those who were killed by saw-toothed saw ants were stuffed by Lin Yi into the corpses of the spiders that had been destroyed in the mother nest. Lin Yi confirmed their feeding habits - the remains of wingless cockroaches were found in their digestive systems. .

Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh that the Gui nest group was really messy, but this simple and crude method was fine for the nest group, but it just sounded a little strange. However, now, the workers, as well as the exploration workers developed on this basis, already have a relatively developed jaw base structure, plus the mouth edges and extended chelicerae, which are enough to eat plants.

Moreover, structures such as nutrient eggs and core supply capsules allow Lin Yi to no longer need such outrageous methods, but can directly deliver nutrients into the mother's nest or combat-level digestive system.

Although from this perspective, anything planted can meet Lin Yi's current needs, after all, these lichens have been cultivated by terrestrial arthropod nests, and from all aspects, they are more suitable than wild plants. Planting.

Therefore, in every aspect, planting these lichens is beneficial to Lin Yi's current expansion.

The explorers climbed onto the surface of the termite mound-shaped mound and continued to scrape some lichen, preparing to plant it on the other side of the river.

At this time, Lin Yi's on-site production of grades suitable for digging in the soil has also been completed, and is slowly crawling out of the newly born terrestrial nest and climbing towards the towering mounds.

The appearance of the new grade is similar to that of the previous explorer, but it does not have chelicerae. Instead, it has a pair of sickle limbs that are similar in shape to the soldier's gall, but are thicker and have rounded and blunt teeth instead of sharp spines. Protruding, rake-like appendages.

The structure of this pair of appendages refers to a later Orthoptera insect that is good at digging in the soil - the mole cricket. With its two-layer shell and well-developed internal muscle tissue, it can easily dig through hard soil and excavate roads.

At the same time, the new class of workers does not have the five pairs of thick and long weight-bearing legs like the previous exploration workers. Instead, it has three pairs of shorter appendages, making its appearance a bit more like the previous aquatic workers.

With a double-layered muscle system, three pairs of legs are enough to support the body of the horse crab. Going back further can be traced back to the body of the horseshoe crab. There is no need to install five pairs of legs to waste nutrients.

In order to maintain balance, Lin Yi also retained the thick and short tail spine. Taken together, the appearance is more like the former aquatic turtle.

Such a new grade was named by Lin Yi in a simple way as an excavation worker. At the same time, he also produced a class of workers using the same template but retaining two pairs of chelicerae - this class will succeed the exploration workers. position, becoming the official land job grade.

The version of the planter with a simplified stepping structure and two pairs of chelicerae was simply called a land planter by Lin Yi based on its function, and would be produced together with the remaining mother nests.

After everything has been dealt with, the next thing to do is very clear - dig out the grave, ah no, dig out those mounds and see what secrets are hidden in the other party's nest under the mounds.

Thinking about this, the excavators quickly began to excavate the surface of the mound, peeling away the lichen layer and soil layer, and continued to dig deeper to check whether the enemy's grassy grave mound and the specific structure under the mound.

(End of this chapter)