LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1 This Queen Ant is Extraordinary
The heavy rain raged for two days, leaving the ground full of holes. Finally, the rain stopped and the wind stopped.
A few patches of shy sunset appeared faintly on the horizon, and cicada cries came from time to time.
A thin boy of sixteen or seventeen years old was running quickly towards the mountains behind the village with his bare feet splashing on the muddy path.
Aniu, don't go up the mountain after dark, or the tiger will eat you.
It's not just tigers, there are also ghosts!
The young man turned a deaf ear to the advice of well-intentioned people. He looked up at the sky from time to time.
Then continue running towards the mountains.
The villagers shook their heads and sighed. They were afraid that the child was evil.
A child without parents is a sinner!
A boy whose parents love him, by the time he is sixteen or seventeen years old, has already married a beautiful wife through a matchmaker and is sleeping under the covers.
A Niu, however, had trouble even having enough food and clothing.
Without looking back, the young man ran along the rugged mountain road into the eerily quiet mountains.
He climbed up a big tree skillfully, with movements as agile as a monkey's.
Then wait patiently and quietly.
Time passes little by little, the sky becomes darker little by little, and night is approaching.
His clear and shining black star eyes were fixed on the empty weeds in front of him, his eyes were persistent and firm.
Buzz buzz...
Countless small black shadows flew from all directions in the sky, flying over the empty weeds.
This is a large group of white or brown termites.
They are overwhelming and their numbers are astonishing.
Qin Niu's expression became more focused, staring closely at the ants flying in the air. During this season, large swarms of termites will fly out of their nests at dusk after heavy rain, gather together, chase each other, and choose a mate.
This phenomenon is called wedding flight.
The one I chose last time didn't survive until the first batch of worker ants grew up and starved to death. This time I must choose the best one.
He was not in a hurry, but patiently selected the strongest and most promising female ant in the colony.
At this moment, he was like an excellent hunter.
I saw those termites freely looking for a 'marriage' partner, and then chasing them down to the ground to complete the marriage event.
After finishing, some male and female ants will go their separate ways. Some find a good site, dig and build a nest, and then seal the cave and enter the bridal chamber to form a lifelong monogamy. However, the life span of the king ant is much shorter than that of the queen, so he will be replaced later.
These breeding ants do not have the ability to forage and eat independently and need to be fed by worker ants. The vast majority of male ants will die within a few hours to a few days.
The female ant becomes the preliminary 'queen'. She needs to find a suitable place as soon as possible to build a primary nest that can shelter from wind, rain and enemies, then start laying eggs, raise her children and create her termite kingdom.
This process will be extremely dangerous, and only one or two of the 10,000 reserve-level 'queens' may be able to successfully establish a nation.
Qin Niu's eyes were fixed on a strong female ant with a round belly.
Its muscular body is not a little stronger than other female ants.
This one he quickly gave up on.
Just because this female ant did a fancy tumbling dance during the process of chasing mates.
It is very foolish to squander the energy in your body just because you are strong. This shows that this female ant rat is short-sighted and has no long-term considerations for establishing a kingdom.
When he first selected female ants, he chose this kind of 'brainless' person.
As a result, the 'queen' starved to death before the first batch of worker larvae could even reach the adult stage.
What he needs to find is a female ant who knows foresight and calculation.
It’s just that such intelligent female ants are so hard to find.
He decisively gave up on the largest female queen and quickly searched for a new target.
Time passes little by little.
One after another, the female ants he selected eventually gave up decisively because they did not perform well in some details.
It was getting dark.
He began to become anxious, his eyesight would get worse and worse, and he would no longer be able to see clearly at a slightly further distance.
If you miss this post-election opportunity, you may have to wait until next year.
In the darkness, he saw a petite termite lying on the back of a large termite.
Can such a small male ant find a mate?
In nature, weak male animals have no right to reproduce. Strong male animals can have multiple wives, while thin ones can only die alone.
This is the natural law of survival of the fittest.
He looked carefully and saw that the tiny termite lying on it was not a male, but a female.
Such a small female termite? too weak.
After the mating was completed, the petite female termite struggled to break off her wings with her front paws. This is done to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and at the same time reduce the chance of being discovered by enemies.
Because from the moment of its wedding flight, it leaves the ant colony where it originally lived, and there will no longer be worker ants to feed it.
Until it lays eggs and raises its first batch of worker ants, it can only starve.
Only when the first batch of worker ants you raise reaches adulthood, send them out to find food, and come back to feed it can they have a chance to eat again.
If it doesn't survive that moment, it will starve to death.
So every ounce of energy must be conserved.
It actually quickly found the next family, and they got married directly without any foreplay.
A watery guy!
Qin Niu secretly despised it and paid more attention to this female ant.
Finding more mates can get more excellent genes.
The offspring born will also be better.
In a short period of time, he found four husbands and got married to them all.
Astonishingly efficient.
Compared with other female ants who chase and play before marriage and pay more attention to romance and ritual, she is simple and direct, doing everything just to produce excellent offspring.
At this time, several returning birds discovered the delicious food and swooped down to quickly peck at the termites that had just completed their marriage.
Each frail termite is like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
The petite female termite was about to be buried in the bird's belly. She turned over and lay on the ground full of weeds, with her six legs folded up and motionless.
Is this fake death?
Coleoptera seven-star ladybugs and fireflies are masters of suspended animation.
I’ve never heard of termites having this skill!
Qin Niu just watched quietly and did not interfere.
The threat of birds is just the first step in its creation of a termite kingdom.
After the petite female ant escaped the first wave of danger, she may have felt that it was not safe to lie down like this. Quietly, he turned over and moved towards the root of the nearest weed little by little at an extremely slow speed.
This speed of movement is difficult to detect with the naked eye.
The last male ant that married it had already been eaten by the birds. Because it is relatively large, it quickly crawls on the ground and escapes when it sees the bird.
As everyone knows, this rapid movement has also become a living target.
If you are caught in the gaze of any bird, you will definitely die.
The petite but smart female ant has successfully climbed to the root of the weed. It lay quietly, tightly attached to the roots of the weeds, motionless.
After the birds are full, they quickly leave.
There are still many surviving termites, and they are running away like crazy.
Frogs lurking in the dark jumped up from time to time, their forked tongues reaping the lives of ants.
The nearby spiders also joined in the feast, slaughtering the defenseless termites one by one. Just as those birds flew away, another group of larger crows flew over.
Without any explanation, he started eating directly.
It is not easy to eat these termites hiding underground or in nests in large trees.
After the catastrophe, most of the huge termite colony had been killed.
The ground was littered with male ant corpses.
One by one, the ants smelled the smell of food and came out from their underground nests to collect the corpses.
For these ants, termite carcasses are a delicacy.
Dragging it back to the nest can feed many young ants.
The petite female termite observed that the birds had left, and the frogs and spiders that had eaten and drank enough had rested.
Only a group of swarming ants began to pick up corpses everywhere.
It must escape from this area as soon as possible, this is the territory of the ant.
It was seen walking and stopping carefully along the way, and every time it could accurately avoid the ant sentinels searching for prey.
Qin Niu began to admire an insect for the first time.
Follow it until it chooses a smoother slope. Because this slope is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, it blocks wind and rain like an eave. And it's on the leeward side.
This is a great place to build a nest.
I have to admire its vision.
It tried hard to climb up, but because the slope was relatively steep, it accidentally rolled down to the bottom of the slope.
It was not discouraged and climbed up the slope again.
Building a nest close to the bottom of a slope is not only too humid, but also risks flooding during heavy rains, and it is also easy to be invaded by enemies.
It is much more difficult to build a nest on the waist of the slope, but the safety factor is at least several times higher.
After five attempts, it finally climbed up.
After choosing a nesting hole, it didn't stop for a moment. It used its front legs and its strong upper jaw to start digging out the relatively soft soil.
This process is very difficult for it.
It needs to dig out a safe primary nest as soon as possible, then lay eggs in the hole, raise the first batch of worker ants and wait until they reach adulthood before they can go out to find food to feed it.
During this period, it cannot obtain food and can only continue to consume the energy stored in the body to maintain life.
Qin Niu watched its laborious digging indifferently, without any idea of helping.
Finally, a primary cave only 1.2cm deep was dug out. If it is a large female termite, it will usually dig the primary burrow to a depth of four to five centimeters.
It seems to be doing what it can and not planning to dig any deeper.
Instead, they began to repair the entrance of the cave and build fortifications.
It's just you. I hope you don't let me waste another precious contract talisman.
The price of a low-level contract talisman was one tael of silver. He sold his property and cut down his clothes and went on a diet for a year before buying this contract talisman.
The stronger the pet, the higher the level of contract talismans required, and the greater the number.
This termite is currently just an ordinary insect, and a low-level contract talisman is completely enough.
He has tried twice, but unfortunately none of the termites he has chosen survive to reach the adulthood of the first batch of workers.
Two chapters will be updated every day, and we will try to fix it around 10 a.m.. Please give me your encouragement and support if you like it. Thank you. Love you guys.
Popular science shows that the queen ant cannot forage and eat by herself and needs to be fed by worker ants by regurgitating her cud.