The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 155: The Winged Diver

In order to further reduce weight and simplify the body structure, the new grade does not have a pair of legs for normal walking on the ground. If you want to support the body on the ground, you can only rely on a pair of specialized appendages that look like the legendary feet. The hind wings of the flying dragon's meat wings support the ground.

However, because the structure still retains characteristics similar to the structure of membrane wings, these wings cannot be folded like pterosaurs, bats or legendary flying dragons, and cannot drive the body forward. They can only be combined with the abdomen in the simplest way. It forms a triangular support structure, holds up the body, and is completely unable to move independently.

And like the flying reconnaissance drone, it is no longer suitable to take off and land by taxi in the water, and vertical takeoff and landing is completely out of the question. It is impossible to take off and land by rolling on land, because the hind wings that provide lift also need to support the ground.

Therefore, Lin Yi designed a biological rocket propulsion structure similar to the rocket-propelled grenade used by the mortar spider. Two glands and enzyme glands continuously spray into the reaction chamber, allowing the liquid to react in the reaction chamber. High-temperature and high-pressure gas is generated and ejected backward.

The position of these fuels is located at the thoracoabdominal segments, behind the towering thoracic segments, where the nozzles of high-temperature and high-pressure gas are located, and the structure of the nozzles can be flexibly adjusted within a certain angle range, similar to the vector propulsion technology of later generations.

Of course, due to the limited amount of fuel it carries, this system is only used as an emergency backup hidden energy source. It is similar to the afterburner of later jet fighters. It is only turned on when necessary, pushing itself to a short-term speed at the expense of consuming a large amount of fuel in a short period of time. The speed of time.

Under normal circumstances, the hind wings are still the main source of power for the new class. When taking off, this rocket boosting system is the key to propel the new class's finalized huge body with a wingspan of six to seven meters into the sky.

However, the new grade alone cannot take off on its own. Therefore, Lin Yi also developed a grade individual that is fixed in the soil and developed from the relevant genetic sequence of the mother's nest.

This is the first time Lin Yi has created a sessile biological level based on a mother's nest on land. Its appearance is roughly similar to a small terrestrial mother's nest structure with a pair of long and straight appendages.

Those two long and straight appendages will act like rocket launch rails, erecting the new grade's body at a specific angle so that its body is perpendicular to the ground, so that the rearward-opening injection system can push the new grade forward. Up to the sky.

This kind of design has not been used in later generations of aircraft. However, in terms of mechanical structure, such a design will not only affect the flight performance, but also increase the difficulty of control and reduce the reliability of the equipment, so it has not been widely used.

But in terms of biological structure, there are no such problems. Compared with trying to install an unrealistic biological landing gear system, such a launch-type take-off structure is more reliable.

Landing is simply a direct and violent landing on a specially set aside runway paved with soft moss and vascular plants, using friction to brake. However, subsequent recycling requires a completely new grade.

The new grade will have an appearance similar to that of a loader, but is slightly larger, with thicker and exaggerated chelicerae, and its muscles are mainly hydraulic muscles, which can carry heavy objects more easily.

Its function is naturally to lift the new-level body and place it on the launcher specially prepared for it.

In order to achieve this goal, the structure of the legs of this derivative-level engineer is similar to that of a mortar spider, which can fix its body like a hoe, making its chassis more stable and better able to lift the new-level body.

Most of the supporting grades have been developed, and Lin Yi has started the production and naming of new grades. Regarding the name, it is indeed a bit difficult to name this new grade - unlike the Saw Ant, which is obviously a reference to ants, and the main battle armor, which is obviously a reference to a tiger beetle, although the new grade is also a reference to the armed poisonous needle ant, its other characteristics are comparable The level of stitch monsters and those that can fly are called xx ants, which are somewhat abstract.

After some thinking, Lin Yi thought of one of the two great heroes that appeared slightly later than the Archaeoptera, but flourished and declined at the same time - the order Quetzalcoptera, which is also the taxon where the famous giant-veined dragonfly belongs.

Compared with the ancient Dictyoptera, which are mostly vegetarian species, the Palaeoptera were mostly aerial predators. As its name suggests, the Palaeoptera was the leader among the winged creatures of the same era.

But now, with the emergence of a new level, even if the Kuiptera has appeared now, it cannot retain its position as the leader - the title of Kuipter is quite suitable for the new level.

But now, except for the ancient web-winged cockroaches in the opposite nest, the ancestors of other insects are still picking up rubbish and playing in the mud in the humus soil. Lin Yi naturally snatched the title of Kueiyi without any psychological pressure and placed it on him. On the new level.

At the same time, the tactic used by the new level was dive bombing, so Lin Yi decided to call its full name Kuai-Wing Diver.

The first such quill-winged swooper began to give birth at the brood. Also produced at the same time were special "aerial bombs."

The shape of these heavy bombs is thicker than the shells used by the mortar spiders, and the tips are blunter. The wing structure of the specialized tail appendage is wider to facilitate more precise guidance.

Moreover, since the Kuaiwing divers themselves cannot guide the aerial bombs very well during dive bombing, these aerial bombs have a middle eye at the end to provide a field of vision for their own guidance when dropping bombs.

Of course, this is just a stop-gap measure. If guidance is to be further facilitated, Lin Yi still plans to develop a special mount symbiosis grade for the Kuai-Wing Diver, which will function similarly to the various photoelectric guidance pods mounted on later fighter aircraft. effect.

But at present, Lin Yi has not yet thought about the relevant structure, and has no relevant needs for the time being, so he does not consider it and concentrates on waiting for the pupa of the Kui-winged Diver. At the same time, he also controlled a land worker to start pupating into a brand new biological structure, which was the launch track of the Kuai-Wing Diver.

After a period of time, the first King-Winged Diver finally completed its pupation. Under the control of Lin Yi, the land workers tore open the pupal sac wrapped on the surface of the newborn King-Winged Diver, revealing the exoskeleton of the newborn individual below.

The level produced at the same time, named the Crane, and used to cooperate with the King-winged Diver, also completed the process of pupation. At this time, it also climbed up with its legs and tested it with a pair of amazingly developed chelicerae. He then lifted up the King-Winged Dive.

At this time, the new launch track had also pupated, and the first produced King-winged Diver was put on the launch track by the crane, nutrients were injected from the mouth, and final inspections were performed in preparation for take-off.

(End of this chapter)