The Death Knell

The most famous social insects on Earth are of course ants and bees, but in addition to them, there are also certain wasps and termites that are also social.

Many people think that termites are also a kind of ant, but they are different colors? Just like black ants and red ants?

But in fact, termites belong to the class of insects, the order Blattata, and ants belong to the class of insects, the order Hymenoptera. The gap between the two is not too big, because in this way, compared to ants, termites and cockroaches are The biological relationship is closer.

The earth's environment is uniquely endowed by nature. Any weird creature in the universe can find similar "relatives" on the earth, and the Zerg is no exception.

Of course, there are some subtle differences. For example, social insects on the earth have three major characteristics.

The first is flexibility. The nest colony can adapt to changing environments at any time.

It may be the external environment, such as flash floods, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and the like. It may also be an internal change, such as the sudden death of the queen ant, the outbreak of an ecological crisis in the nest, etc.

But a mature and complete nest group will always have ways to deal with these situations. Their social nature makes up for the weakness of individual strength and can avoid environmental changes that would be a disaster for most insects.

The second is the robustness of the nest. Even if an individual fails, the entire nest still completes the task.

Let's take the example of ants. They sometimes prey on large insects as food, such as scorpions. A single ant is not worth mentioning to a scorpion, and it can easily kill a large number of them.

But when thousands of ants swarm forward one after another, the scorpion will eventually be bitten through the weak joints of the carapace, and eventually die of formic acid poisoning.

Maybe someone has seen the scene of ants crossing the river. They will form an 'ant ball', wrapping the queen and eggs in the center, and layers of worker ants on the outside to form a protective layer. This kind of ant ball can cross Large rivers are more common in areas with seasonal flooding like the African grasslands.

The worker ants in the outer layer will definitely die in the end, but the ants in the inner layer will be protected, allowing the nest to move forward.

This is that after the nest group sets a collective goal, the life and death of the individual has been ignored, and they only work collectively for one goal.

The third point is the difference between the gregarious creatures on Earth and various alien Zerg species.

Earth's social insects have 'personalities'.

You can't find two identical individuals from an ant nest or bee nest. Although worker ants and worker bees are both 'tool men' without the ability to reproduce, in fact, as long as they are observed under a microscope, their appearance will be different. There are differences, and if their genes are taken out and sent for testing, each one will be different.

Social insects on the earth are thoughtful. They use pheromones and body movements to communicate, listen to orders, and act together.

The hive is their main service body, and every insect alive works for it. Individuals are not worth mentioning, including the queen, which is replaceable because it is just a reproductive machine and an important part of the population.

But these characteristics do not hold true on the alien Zerg. As if someone finds it troublesome, the bottom layer of most of the worker bees seems to be printed from the same mold. There is no difference. They are just replicas of flesh and blood. .

The bugs coming off these 'assembly lines' have the same appearance, the same smell, and the same genes, and they may not even have independent thoughts.

Some Zerg races don't even have a brain, and only have a receiver in their head shell. They may be ruled by a "hive mind" through technology or psychic abilities, and everything they do is to serve that will.

"The three types of Zerg in the negative space can be understood as locusts, bees, and ants respectively." Su Ming put down the empty can in his hand and rolled it back and forth on the table, causing his cousin's eyes to follow it. turn to.

"Locusts?" Doom repeated a word of concern: "I don't remember locusts being social insects."

"Actually, this is called environmental stress-based gregarious living. Locusts are originally solitary insects, but when the environment is not suitable or the population density in an area is too high, their CYP305M2 gene will be activated, causing them to mutate to secrete pheromones. ability, thus transforming into a gregarious form, and the Asian migratory locust is the most typical example."

Su Ming explained that when he said this, he couldn't help but think of his previous life and wanted to laugh a little.

Because I was surfing the Internet in my previous life, and I liked reading history books for a while. It was said that someone traveled back to ancient times and happened to encounter a locust plague, so he gave the emperor an idea to let the people eat locusts to eliminate the disaster.

They also say that the locust plague is like a dark cloud, take off your shoes and throw it in the air, and the common people are getting fat from eating meat.

With the protagonist's "ingenious plan", the ancient people eliminated the locust plague in a few days, and then the protagonist was rewarded by the emperor to become a high official, marry several princesses, and reach the pinnacle of life.

Every time he saw a similar plot, Su Ming would die of poison because swarms of locusts were inedible.

I don’t know if anyone has noticed that scattered locusts look emerald green or a little yellow, but swarms of locusts are 'blackened'. This is because the chemical environment in their bodies changes after they produce pheromones due to living in groups. , and correspondingly produced two other substances.

Phenyl acetonitrile and hydrocyanic acid, this is why locusts cannot be eaten. The former only has a pungent and unpleasant smell, which prevents natural enemies such as birds from eating locusts, while the latter is highly toxic, with a lethal dose to the human body of 0.4 mg per kilogram of body weight.

It is possible that the ancient people who ate locusts gained weight, but was that due to swollen skin caused by the destruction of the blood circulation system after being poisoned?

It's just that when I think about the past, I can only remember it with nostalgia. Su Ming himself has traveled through time. Maybe everyone in the universe of those ancient time travelers is anti-drug MAX?

"Ahem."

Su Ming cleared his throat and threw the empty can to his cousin to play with. Wade immediately squatted on the ground like a cat and rolled the can around with his hands. He continued to say to Doom:

"The Annihilation Zerg in the negative space are actually like a template for locusts. They originally evolved from the spores on the planet Argorr. They do not have any group characteristics, but when enough people gather on a planet with limited space, After many Annihilation Zergs were annihilated, they formed a nest, and the Annihilation Zerg King who picked up the Cosmic Control Rod became their leader and ruler."

Doctor Doom put down the soda bottle and crossed his arms. He was thinking, and then his voice came from under the iron mask:

"So, the individuals among them are actually able to think and have independent consciousness, right?"

"Yes, the Annihilation Zerg is not the most dangerous among the three negative space Zerg, but it is indeed the most cunning. They have advanced technology and strong individual soldiers. They have a large number of biological warships, endless sources of soldiers, and a single The king of top strength in the universe."