#insecture

[derangedsheep]

Okay, I need to post something before I get stuck in the drafts =3=‘

Introducing the first role within the Rihwa society

Caretakers

Caretakers are male by human standards, their jobs being to fertilize eggs and tend to larvae. They are likened to male seahorses, after mating with the Queen (or Shaman’s, we’ll get into that at another time) eggs are transferred into the repurposed thorax which works as an incubator until the eggs have grown to a substantial size. A Caretaker will raise thousands of larvae in his lifetime, most of which being other Caretakers and Workers, with a slim number of Soldiers. They form a tight bond with their children, going almost nowhere without them, until they’ve reached their adult pupation stage which varies from each ant. A Caretaker without children are considered cursed in some way. To the colony, their only purpose is to bare and raise larvae, these Caretakers are often shunned or treated as a different species entirely which is more common among traditional colonies.

Caretakers are the smallest in the colony, being 6’0 ft (182 cm) on average with those raised in the higher level farmlands being even smaller. Their tasks outside of raising Larvae are often working alongside Workers, making utilities out of clay or dried grass, being hunting scouts and hunting smaller creatures, working at markets, caring for orphaned Larvae, and much more depending on the colony.

They’re just little silly guys!

Some of these are before the redesign, ignore in consistencies

[derangedsheep]

I’m the worlds #1 ant appreciator btw

[derangedsheep]

Gently moving my project to this account :p

[derangedsheep]

Here’s a height chart

I’ve been so distracted by work and Tomodachi life.

Largest to smallest

Sub-Soldier

Worker

Caretaker

I wanted to post before the end of this month but y’all will get more about these goobers, I swear! <3

[derangedsheep]

Worker

Workers are mostly females unless a colony is long established and not nomadic, even then male Workers tend to the Queen more often than their female counterparts. Workers are hunters, farmers, medics, and of course tenders to the Queens and Shamans, anything that requires physical labor will be dominated by workers. Their chitin is thicker than Cakertakers especially around their joints which are also longer in comparison, letting them be more mobile and less fragile. They can take a quadrupedal stance for climbing steep surfaces or to move just a bit faster, their second pair of arms resting lower on their torso, this movement isn’t something they can do consistently throughout the day so their default positioning is bipedal. As larvae the only way to know the difference between a worker and a caretaker is (outside of pheromones) their singular ocelli in the middle of their heads when freshly hatched or pseudo-limbs which start as little nubs and develop as they molt, they are very active and tend to participate in playful wrestling with siblings which is why Caretakers will pray to the EverQueen for more than one Worker otherwise they’ll have to endure being the target of nibbling. Workers have the most dramatic variations out of the other ants, their beauty standards revolve around how big and soft their necks are, how short their antennae are, and (in certain colonies) if their gaster (abdomen) can hold a certain amount of sap.

Workers, on average, reach 7’4 and taller. They tend to develop close relationships with Soldiers since Soldiers need pheromone translators or need help hunting something far too large. Workers are many which means they die more commonly, most that go on expeditions or long hunting trips have to report back to their Caretaker upon returning, there is a deep respect that comes with taking care of not only the colony but also their family or “Aosar̊”.

They look so crunchy

[derangedsheep]

A sketch before I start lore posting. This world has two sophont species, one natural and the other invasive, both evolving alongside each other.

[uzalud]

you are my life

ily