Possible late game invaders? Fire ants

[Roger Perry]

Fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) would attack and attempt to replace the native ants (maybe use the abandoned anthill as their initial spawn?).

Fire ants would ALWAYS be aggressive to players and any insect that disturbs their nest. Nearly the entirety of the colony swarm out to meet threats due to a threat pheromone released by a single ant if the scent is close enough to the mound.

A fire ant colony consists of 1 or more queens and the workers (no soldiers are present or needed as the entirety of the worker population have evolved as quite vicious fighters possessing both a bite and venomous sting) .

Nurse ants are younger workers that feed, tend to, and move the queen and brood within the hill to maintain optimal developmental temperature. (towards the surface to warm, deeper underground to cool).

Older workers serve as reserves to defend the colony, and construct and maintain the mound.

The oldest worker ants become foragers. (These are the most likely to be victims of predation and are the most expendable of the colony)

Occasionally the fire ants could sortee against the native ants in a swarm and inflict casualties/ capture eggs as food with the goal of causing native ant extinction and if successful colonize the main anthill as well.

Edit:

I also want to point out the Ant Armor 'Hum-ant' perk would be totally ineffective versus fire ants. Even subtle differences in ant pheromones cause nearby competing fire ant colonies to war incessantly.

A strange ant would be viewed as a threat immediately and the resultant defensive swarm would have the bits tucked away in the larder in no time.

Edited August 25, 2020 by Roger Perry

[McSquirl Nugget]

no thanks.

i have a hard enough time with wolf spiders,  don't need more bugs that would constantly wipe the floor with me.