» Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:46 am Conventional wisdom would have us believe that ants are, aside from humans, the only species that wages war. With this in mind, I would suggest to any aspiring mad scientist, hell-bent on world domination through insectoidal means, that the humble ant would be a good place to start. Think of them as the infantry, if you will, of the insect forces.
But as any student of military tactics, or indeed of history will tell you, infantry alone does not an army make. There are a multitude of roles crucial to a military force that cannot be filled by our formicidal friends. Armour, artillery and air support are not the forté of such creatures, and these are just the front-line arms. What of logistics? What of military policing and force protection? Reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering? And of course, what self-respecting modern military force would be complete without it's marching band?
Our insect army is somewhat lacking. As it stands, we'd be lucky to take over the Isle of Man, never mind the rest of the planet. The way I see it, these are the vacancies:
Armour
Artillery
Air support
Logistics
Policing
Force protection
Intelligence
Special forces (inc. recon, search & rescue etc.)
Administration
CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) warfare
Engineering
Music (obviously)
Signals
Catering
(These are the ones I could think of immediately. If, for some unfathomable reason, I have omitted some vital part of military infrastructure, please feel free to suggest it (and tell me what an idiot I am for overlooking it in the first place.))
Given that insects are the most numerous and the most diverse class of life on the planet (leaving out plants - plants are idiots), surely there must be examples out there that will fit into these roles perfectly...
My question to you, good people, is which insect is suited to which role? Please state your suggestions and your reasons.
