Joerg Baumgartner <joe_at_toppoint.de> wrote
> Daniel McCluskey
>
> >Giant ants are portrayed in RQ as having a communal INT based on the
> >size of their colony. I am curious whether there are any known Ant
> >Empires in glorantha... Huge colonies, of superhuman intelligence, able
> >to compete with Human Nations for Land and resources. It seems that
> >there ought to be, but I don't think... nah... it couldn't be... the
> >"six-legged empire" of Sandy's last post??? thats just a name... isn't
> >it?... (insert sinister music here) (YGMV)
...
> In general, there is an upper limit for a hive size, IMO, just like empires
> tend to collapse when they overextend their range of control. With hives,
> the limit lies in the reproductive abilities and the food procurement of the
> insects.
...
If each colony has one queen (and thus one nest), the need to return to the
nest limits the maximum size.
The absolute maximum size is reached when the
energy (etc.) gained from a foraging trip exactly equals the energy (etc.)
consumed on that trip. The gain from each trip would be about equal,
wheras the comsumption would increase at least linearly with the distance.
Do ants travel at night? If not, the maximum foraging radius would be half a
day's walk.
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