The evolution of insect swarms from XNUMX million years ago

Chapter 188 Shadowfly

The legs are very simple and can almost copy the structure of the Saw Ant's legs, with slight modifications, allowing it to support a body larger than that of the Saw Ant with only four legs.

Because the new grade has different needs from the mantis, its appendage structure will not be like that of the mantis in any way, including the subsequent membrane wings and body structure.

Except for a pair of well-developed blade limbs that can no longer be called catching feet, and the same triangular head, the appearance of the new grade no longer looks like a praying mantis, but more like a small insect called a mantis. .

This small insect is closely related to the common lacewing, but it has catching legs and an elongated front body similar to that of a mantis. In later generations, it was one of the typical cases of convergent evolution - although according to fossil records, the emergence of mantises is much later than that of mantises. In fact, earlier, it was not yet known who copied whom.

After having this sense of déjà vu, Lin Yi discovered that the body structure of mantises is indeed more suitable than that of mantises in a sense to be enlarged into a prototype of a new level. For example, they have a more flexible catching foot structure and more developed than mantises. Membrane wing.

After having an appearance template, the subsequent gene sequence editing is much simpler. For Lin Yi, who has realized the linguisticization of genes, the difficulty is only limited to that of making faces in the game.

For the two pairs of membrane wings, Lin Yi adopts a shape similar to the hind wings of the Kui-winged Swooper, but the overall shape is more rounded, with the front being longer and the back being shorter, showing an appearance not far different from the wings of later mantises.

Still according to convention, inner shells and double-layered muscle systems are installed on the appendages and the body, as well as key parts. Special mineral-containing exoskeleton components are installed on the cutting edges of the inner edges of the forelimbs, allowing the pair of blade-like appendages to move easily. Cut open the bones and muscles of contemporary creatures.

This allows the new class to easily reach the top of the food chain in this era even if they fight alone in most cases. But just in case, Lin Yi still plans to install some special functions for the new level.

First, look at the end of the abdomen - in addition to the convergent evolution of mantises in later generations, a considerable number of species imitate the body color of wasps in a method called Batesian mimicry to avoid being predated.

The mantis itself does not have a stinging needle. But for the new level, Lin Yi planned to add a stinging needle structure to it to protect itself when facing strong enemies.

What this sting needle injects will no longer be venom in the traditional sense, but the structure of virus-like microorganisms in a large number of mother nests. But at this time, the role of these virus-like microorganisms will play a big change.

They will directly attack cells, especially those sensitive nerve cells, causing intense pain to drive them away. If you face an opponent that you can beat, you can also dissolve it directly at the cellular level, destroying the corpse and eradicating all traces.

In addition to combat structures, as a reconnaissance level, observation structures are equally important.

Both mantises and mantises have well-developed compound eyes, and after a long period of research on the structure of the compound eyes, Lin Yi has become quite proficient. A pair of well-developed compound eyes was quickly designed and installed on the new-grade triangular head.

What was also confirmed was a pair of specialized single eyes. Like the Saw Ant, this pair of single eyes will have low-light night vision capabilities for seeing at night.

In fact, Lin Yi originally planned to go one step further and directly install thermal imaging eyes that can see infrared rays for the new grade. However, when he was halfway through editing the gene sequence, he suddenly realized that in this era, all animals are cold-blooded, and thermal imaging Night vision is probably useless

But it doesn't matter, low-light night vision can also be used, and the technology is more mature. It has been implemented on the saw ant, so you can just move it over and use it.

Vision is one aspect, and other perceptual abilities cannot be left behind. The upgraded echolocation system was quickly installed on the new level by Lin Yi. Among them, the vocal organs and receiving organs have been comprehensively strengthened, allowing the new generation of echo Positioning systems are far more accurate than ever before. Finally, there is a new set of black technology installed by Lin Yi for the new level.

A long time ago, Lin Yi obtained the gene fragment related to the color-changing ability by analyzing the genetic sequence of "Kraken", and used it in the form of a display screen structure in the last communication with the Anomalocaris nest group.

At this time, Lin Yi finally combined this structure with the exoskeleton structure, creating a new level with the ability to change the color of the exoskeleton at will.

Moreover, after obtaining the space-like synaptic structure at the microscopic cellular level, the accuracy of this structure has been greatly improved, allowing the new grade to imitate the surrounding environment almost perfectly and hide the figure.

Although at present, such a structure can only be used when stationary or moving at low speed. If it moves at high speed, it is easy to be unable to keep up and the flaws will be seen. However, for a detective level, such an ability is still quite useful. .

After all, this is almost complete optical invisibility that has not yet been fully studied by later generations. Although ambush hunting is very inefficient for nest-level individuals who are already warm-blooded animals, as long as this ability is used well, it can definitely play a surprising role.

Because it was based on mantises and had the ability to change color with the environment to achieve optical invisibility, Lin Yi simply called the new grade a shadow fly to describe its ability to hide in the shadows.

At the same time, such an ability also has other uses - such as the source of its genetic template, which is the flashing glare of the "Kraken".

However, Lin Yi planned to use it in a more violent way - the exoskeleton of the shadow fly's well-developed forewings is covered with luminous structures, and it also has a special wider structure that can refract light.

If it really encounters a formidable opponent, the shadowfly will open its forewings, and a strong glare will erupt from the forewings, creating a flashbang-like effect that will stun the enemy's eyes and allow the shadowfly itself to take the opportunity to escape.

At the same time, the open forewings can also show an eye-like structure and can even sway to act as a deterrent to a certain extent. Quite effective when dealing with wild animals.

Taken together, the shadowflies have become a multi-functional blade for nests to penetrate into the wilderness and conduct exploration without large-scale destruction of the ecological environment. They can also achieve some special tactical functions - they are not so much reconnaissance level, but It is said that the special grade is more appropriate.

For such a grade, the only drawback is probably that the production cost is a bit high. But for now, when there are no strong enemies for Lin Yi to face, the nutrients provided by the mushroom carpet are enough to produce large quantities of shadowflies of this level and conduct large-scale reconnaissance.

In this way, the first batch of shadow flies began to give birth in the mother nest group under Lin Yi's control.

(End of this chapter)