Hello,
I want to utter some remarks and objections concerning an aspect of the ongoing event, namely the explanations Ardan Kaele (as an entomoligist) has given.
I am aware that Atys is an fictitious world not identical to Earth. Yet I think that everything with an equal name here and in RL should be generally the same, with differences explained.
As to our termites, Ardan gave an explanation about their lifecycle which may fit to flies, mosquitoes, or butterflies, but hardly to social insects such as ants, bees, or termites. And it seems wierd that such kind of insects should be able to form lairs at all.
All social insects (in RL biology) share the common attribute that their "state" is in fact rather a very large family. Some exceptional cases (such as an orphaned lair, egg abduction, and breeding parasitism) notwithstanding, all social animals are largely siblings stemming from the same mother, the insect "queen".
The reproduction of social insects has separate cycles for normal reproduction and procreation. The latter takes place in lots (indeed up to millions) of eggs being laid by the queen resulting in infertile builders, collectors, feeders, or soldiers keeping the lair running, the further in raising a few fertile specimens for creation of new colonies, or replacement of the existing population at the end of its lifecycle.
This is the case with ants and bees on the one side as well as with termites, but with a remarkable difference: While infertile bees and ants are all females, termites have both sex in their working and defending population. Moreover, while the queen of bees ant ants is mating once in her life, keeping the semen of the 5-7 drones she coupled with (with the drones expelled and killed afterwards), the termite queen mates with one male during the marriage flight, and creates the colony together with him, and coupling again for producing new offspring over their lifetime. Also, the infertile termites are of both sex.
In case the lair orphans by death of the queen (or the couple) the emergency response is different, too: ant or bee lairs may be overtaken by a neighbouring colony usually of same kinship (I read about ants which assault other lairs overtaking the population after killing the queen, but that case of parasitism is quite rare). With termites, some of the infertile - indeed rather lifelong immature - individuals may mature and replace the fallen parents.
Atys kitins are obviously modelled after social insects of the bee/ant type, with the difference that the drones, the kidinak, are not being driven out and killed, but staying close to the queen as husbands and personal guard. I am not sure about the kinreys, but found some indications of them being infertile males.
Back to our termites, I find it regrettable that their biology seems having been ignored in the plot (maybe that can still be corrected). A way to handle termites as dead wood devouring tool while preventing them to spread out too far might have been hindering new fertile specimens to develop. The lair would then exist normally - possibly sped up by the stimulation potions - and naturally die at the end of its lifecycle.
I want to utter some remarks and objections concerning an aspect of the ongoing event, namely the explanations Ardan Kaele (as an entomoligist) has given.
I am aware that Atys is an fictitious world not identical to Earth. Yet I think that everything with an equal name here and in RL should be generally the same, with differences explained.
As to our termites, Ardan gave an explanation about their lifecycle which may fit to flies, mosquitoes, or butterflies, but hardly to social insects such as ants, bees, or termites. And it seems wierd that such kind of insects should be able to form lairs at all.
All social insects (in RL biology) share the common attribute that their "state" is in fact rather a very large family. Some exceptional cases (such as an orphaned lair, egg abduction, and breeding parasitism) notwithstanding, all social animals are largely siblings stemming from the same mother, the insect "queen".
The reproduction of social insects has separate cycles for normal reproduction and procreation. The latter takes place in lots (indeed up to millions) of eggs being laid by the queen resulting in infertile builders, collectors, feeders, or soldiers keeping the lair running, the further in raising a few fertile specimens for creation of new colonies, or replacement of the existing population at the end of its lifecycle.
This is the case with ants and bees on the one side as well as with termites, but with a remarkable difference: While infertile bees and ants are all females, termites have both sex in their working and defending population. Moreover, while the queen of bees ant ants is mating once in her life, keeping the semen of the 5-7 drones she coupled with (with the drones expelled and killed afterwards), the termite queen mates with one male during the marriage flight, and creates the colony together with him, and coupling again for producing new offspring over their lifetime. Also, the infertile termites are of both sex.
In case the lair orphans by death of the queen (or the couple) the emergency response is different, too: ant or bee lairs may be overtaken by a neighbouring colony usually of same kinship (I read about ants which assault other lairs overtaking the population after killing the queen, but that case of parasitism is quite rare). With termites, some of the infertile - indeed rather lifelong immature - individuals may mature and replace the fallen parents.
Atys kitins are obviously modelled after social insects of the bee/ant type, with the difference that the drones, the kidinak, are not being driven out and killed, but staying close to the queen as husbands and personal guard. I am not sure about the kinreys, but found some indications of them being infertile males.
Back to our termites, I find it regrettable that their biology seems having been ignored in the plot (maybe that can still be corrected). A way to handle termites as dead wood devouring tool while preventing them to spread out too far might have been hindering new fertile specimens to develop. The lair would then exist normally - possibly sped up by the stimulation potions - and naturally die at the end of its lifecycle.
---
Daomei die Streunerin - religionsneutral, zivilisationsneutral, gildenneutral