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@futurebird So tell me, she who knows, I've got some bugs coming up in the next section of my series of novellas. What's a good documentary on ant behaviour, possibly bees, for me to steal some cool bits for my alien bugs? My characters will be literally crawling into the nest, so I need a good primer. A lecture recorded at a university might also work.
I'm so glad you asked. These are general overviews of some of the most famous kinds of ants that everyone should know about.
The Wood Ant Supercolony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXKn1f5yVe0
Atta Cephalotes: The Leafcutter Ants, Ants who Farm Fungi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n0SkIGARuo
Weaver Ants (Ants who live in trees and make silk nests)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSmM3fVHwQQ
Army Ants (Ants that inspired horror stories)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prwdLQi2LFQ
Bull Ants (one of the largest ants)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vRRYsVUkwU
The most common error I've seen in #scifi representations of social insects is a deep misunderstanding about the role of the queen and the nature of the "hive mind" (such as it is)
1. Queen ants are not rulers, they are more like ovaries. The colony is like a body every cell is important.
2. Ants are individuals and do whatever they want. It just so happens that what they want is for the colony to thrive, but they can get in 'arguments' about HOW to do that most efficiently.
My least favorite scifi social insect trope is the one where they kill the queen then the whole colony dies or falls apart.
I've written a bit about what happens when the queen dies in real ant colonies here:
https://www.tumblr.com/futurebird/687923061354364928/the-queen-is-dead?source=share
@futurebird @golgaloth Such a beautiful article 
@futurebird@sauropods.win @golgaloth@writing.exchange if you're into insect-adjacent scifi I highly recommend the award winning series "Children of time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky
It's about ants, and spiders, and insects... and what I would lovingly refer to as "space Australia on an arc ship"
very enjoyable and well researched novel, the insect/spider scifi aspects are grounded in reality and it shows
@froge @futurebird Thanks. I'm looking for a new book at the moment, so I'll definitely check it out.
@golgaloth @froge @futurebird
There's also Derin Edala on paetron. The wandering star series.
It's a running joke that every few weeks someone on here recommends that I read "Children of time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky (every single person who has done this has turned out to be basically awesome and super interesting, so welcome to the exclusive club.)
But also? Thanks a lot for forcing me to reset the timer again. 
@futurebird @froge @golgaloth I would recommend that book, but I don’t want to upset the timer. 
@futurebird @froge @golgaloth did you check the Doors of Heaven? Every other chapter is about an alternate universe where a different species evolved to rule the Earth. His last two books are also about other forms of life that are very different from anything we know (sorry, can't elaborate without massive spoilers)
@ehproque @futurebird @froge @golgaloth I can't find any sci-fi book by that name, who's the author?
@ntraft @futurebird @froge @golgaloth it's Adrian Tchaikovsky
@ehproque Gotcha, I see you must mean The Doors of Eden. And possibly one of the recent books you're referring to is Alien Clay? They're going on my list, thanks!
@ntraft at least I didn't say gates this time! That is the one (the latest is called Shroud)
In spite of seeing the counter reset several times, I haven't seen you say if you've actually read the books or not! If so, did you enjoy them? If not, what do we need to get the counter to for you to try them?
@futurebird @froge @golgaloth how often do folks mention “A Deepness in the Sky” by Vernor Vinge (one of my faves)?
That's really interesting and cool! I would have thought they're more like bees where a new queen emerges when the old one dies (or when the hive gets too big and it's time to swarm).
@futurebird @golgaloth I loved reading this, and found it both informational and very touching!