I Am the Swarm

The results of the experiment came out very quickly, and it only took Rowan a few days to figure out everything.

He originally thought that he needed to wait for the queen to lay eggs, and then wait for the eggs to develop slowly, which would take at least one growth cycle. Just like when he observed male ants.

It was later discovered that his thinking was fixed. There are still many live larvae and pupae in this ant nest, and there is no need to wait for the queen to lay eggs again to hatch.

He sent some spy bugs in to take care of the larvae and pupae.

On the same day, a group of adult worms emerged from the pupae.

After that, things were simple. Following their instincts, they began to get busy in the cave.

In the rooms next to the spiral passages, they glued the jelly-like leaves mixed with saliva after chewing into the walls, forming a honeycomb-like structure, and those white fibrous filaments turned out to be big-headed ants They actively planted on it.

The green leaf mixture is equivalent to fertilizer, and there are also many microscopic worker ants in the honeycomb structure, carefully inspecting the white fibrous material, and removing some things from time to time, as if weeding.

Rowan tried to eat a little bit. The fibrous part is rich in protein, and in the fibrous network there are many balls, which are rich in sugar.

The big-headed ants, they actually opened up an underground farm in their nest.

If the crops in such a room can support a thousand large-headed ants, then hundreds of such rooms can be seen in this section alone, and it is unknown how many are hidden underground.

Luo Wen was speechless, the big-headed ants not only grow their own crops, but also have more than ten red ant nests outside. No wonder a single ant nest can support 7 million members.

Although he couldn't figure out what these fibrous things were, the things growing underground should be some kind of fungi. In any case, this production technology must be introduced into the insect colony, which will not only enrich the industrial structure of the insect colony, but also fill the gap in the planting industry. The most important thing is that Rowan can also eat assured sweets.

Knowing the mystery of the big-headed ant's violent soldiers, Rowan ordered the big-headed ant queen to be protected and kept in captivity. Then Xingye rushed back to the old nest and updated the gene pool of the mother nest.

After producing 500 new versions of the queen, Rowan was not sure whether the workers in the swarm could learn to grow those fungi. Anyway, the queen ants always use it, first produce some, and then let them hatch worker ants based on the gene of the big-headed ant to grow fungi crops. The original worker ants continue to engage in animal husbandry and raise aphids.

It's just that the first batch of queen ants carried too few genetic samples to keep up with the development of the swarm. Rowan considered whether to recycle them.

After thinking about it for a while, let's forget it. After all, they also contributed to the development of the swarm. Go back and send another ant queen over there to enrich the base troops.

The old one should retire and just keep it for nothing. These insects also have a lifespan limit. The lifespan of worker ants is relatively short, but because of the frequent occurrence of swarm wars, they basically do not die of old age. Because the queen ant has a long lifespan, Rowan still doesn't know how long these guys can live.

However, even if they were raised for 180 years, if the queen ants did not produce eggs, they would not be able to eat much.

After arranging the task of the mother's nest, Rowan was not idle, and hurried back to the river. At the beginning, he had just discovered aquatic creatures, and before he could understand it, he was diverted by the attacking big-headed ants.

Now that the big-headed ants are resolved, it's time to look back and figure out what happened before.

Returning to the location by the river where the abnormality was discovered, Rowan began to patrol around there, but as time passed, the aquatic creatures were like a flash in the pan and never appeared again.

Rowan was not discouraged, and no longer searched around, but continued to search north along the river bank.

A week later, although Rowan didn't find anything in the river, his hard work paid off, but he found some unexpected gains in a puddle by the river.

This is a small pit that appeared for some unknown reason, half a meter deep, about a dozen square meters, next to the river. The gap between the pit and the river was washed away by the current, and some river water flowed into the pit to form the puddle.

The water in the puddle is very turbid because the river water is not very circulated. It is full of aquatic plants, and various weeds and leaves are floating among the aquatic plants.

If you don't get close, you can't find this puddle from a distance.

Rowan has passed through here twice, and now this is the third time. Unlike the previous two, which were both during the day, this time it was indeed evening.

But it was this inadvertent passing before dark that Rowan made a new discovery.

On the turbid water surface, a few small black beetles floated comfortably on it, very inconspicuous. But the dim sky did not affect Rowan's vision, and the abnormality on the water immediately attracted his attention.

After closer inspection, it was found that these small insects were about two or three centimeters long, oval and flat, and their backs were covered by a whole piece of smooth carapace, which was covered with fine white dots.

Because the water surface was turbid and there were all kinds of dead leaves floating, Rowan thought they were lying on these miscellaneous leaves at first. But when he carefully pulled the leaves away with his feet, he discovered that ~www.novelmt.com~ these little insects really floated on the water by themselves.

They are small, like boats that are buckled upside down, making Rowan's eyes bright.

Stretching out his feet, he cautiously approached a small insect.

Their eyesight should not be very good. When they pulled the leaves just now, they didn't respond.

The sticky hairs on the small claws at the front of the foot can easily grab a small insect and pick it up.

And Rowan also saw its true colors.

Upon closer inspection, I found that its carapace was not a single piece, but was made up of a head carapace and two carapaces on the left and the right. They were tightly stitched together, like a whole.

And their carapace can be lifted and opened to both sides, just like it is doing at this time, hissing in his mouth, as if to intimidate Rowan.

They have three pairs of arthropods, of which the front feet are slender, and the middle and hind feet are short and flat, like four oars. As they float on the water, these four "paddles" can be rowed quickly, propelling their bodies to move quickly.

The most interesting thing is their eyes, they have upper and lower pairs of eyes. But this is not unusual. The spider that has attacked Rowan before has eight eyes. What's interesting about them is that one pair of eyes is in the normal position and the other pair is under the side of the head.

Judging from the waterline they hit just now, when they were floating on the water, the pair of eyes sank underwater. The purpose is self-evident, they are naturally used to observe the situation underwater.

Rowan sighed a little, the eyes are not accurate from the water surface, then grow a pair of eyes underwater, and animals are indeed pragmatists.

However, these are all Rowan's now. With the addition of these genes, he will be able to have water troops immediately.

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