#antwings

I've had this infographic kicking around for a while and it's one of the better ones I've made. The lines next to the dragons' heads are intentional and show how the sizing works! They measure the Worker's skull and counting how many each dragons' face is long tells you what class they are :)

Our stars are:

Worker class: Eight (formerly/technically known as Worker Q-984) Supermajor class: E-67 (nicknamed "Grumpy" by Eight) Alate class: Alate Atta (not A Bug's Life reference, she's named after the taxonomical genera Atta for leafcutter ants, which is also possibly what the movie character is named after too :) Queen class: Queen Trapjaw (as soon as I created the tribe I knew I needed to name someone after trapjaw ants, and the Queen seemed like a perfect fit!)

If you read the names and are a little confused why some of them have numbers... you can read the book to find out :)

If you don't want to, the short non-spoiler answer is: the AntWings are a big tribe and desperate times call for desperate measures. Instead of individual names that run the risk of running out of unique options, dragonets are assigned number designations. It's a "better" system anyway as you can instantly tell a dragon's age based on their identification; the letter prefix corresponds with their generation and the number is when the individual hatched. There are 1000 dragons in each generation with a new one born each year. In the 50th year of the war the youngest adult generation is Generation Q (7 years old) and the most recently hatched generation is Generation W (1 year old).

So one day I was minding my own business until I got the random idea to try making an ant-based Pantala tribe. No problem, I thought, it would be a fun exercise.

5 years and 3 books later:

SUPERMAJOR (carnivorous diet, soldier build)

WORKER (vegetarian diet, majority population)

From a glance you might have seen these two and been like "what the heck is going on"? Allow me to introduce the main gimmick of the AntWings: depending on what they eat, they grow to different classes!

Part of this gimmick is that, once a dragon is seven years old, they are done physically growing. Workers will stay the same size their whole lives, as will Supermajors, who are three times as large as a Worker.

ALATE (vegetarian diet + LOTS of "Royal Jelly")

Alates are the princess/princes of the tribe. If you guessed any AntWing could be an Alate by their diet alone, you are correct! Dragonets are essentially blank slates that can grow into any class. I haven't formally decided but I would say that within two years the "choice" becomes set in stone and switching diets abruptly might result in undersized wings/dragons that are bigger than they should be. I never considered this because the AntWing tribe during the time of Alate Atta is very... controlled but a way the biology could probably work is that, depending on what diet the dragnets start on, their digestive systems quickly "lock" into it so their brain/body will only recognize that as a food source. Everything else will seem gross/not provide the proper nutrients.

The exception to this is AntWing "Royal Jelly", a special mix mainly consisting of sugar that is used to make Alates and Queens (as a Queen can only be made from an Alate).

And if you read the word "choice" there and wondered if the dragonets get a say... no :D That's a running theme in the story, so I am aware. I am also aware they likely never will have a choice beyond what their parents allow since they would be too young to understand. I never said it was a nice system.

QUEEN (omnivore + Royal Jelly)

The Queen caps this system off with the largest build of all. Four times the size of a Worker, she is the most powerful class with strength to rival a Supermajor's. She would be no match against a horde of them, however, and so her pheromones have the ability to be so strong they are practically mind control. If any Worker or Supermajor smells her fear they would drop everything to protect her. Alates have a weaker version of this ability.

Yes, she has wings, but with how large she is she would probably have a very hard time doing so. She wouldn't always be this size, however, and probably not even by the time she is seven.

This is a symbolic remnant of real queen ants who break their wings off when they find a place to start their colony. The diet system was created with real ant classes in mind, where you will find mostly workers, a good chunk of large soldiers, prince/princesses during mating season and, obviously, the queen herself.

Lastly, as I mentioned earlier, Alates are the only class that can turn into a Queen. The Royal Jelly they eat keeps them open to receiving meat in the event the old Queen dies and a new one has to be made. From there, she would gradually grow until she reaches Queen size.

There is absolutely no science involved in this process, lmao, it's just my silly food magic system. But it sounded fun!

~4 years old / darker scales

lighter, softer scales / < 1 year old

One thing all AntWings share, however, is the fact that they all hatch with soft pale scales. Real ant larvae are like this too, and as they mature they grow proper limbs and hard exoskeletons. To simulate this, dragonets hatch early with softer scales than adult AntWings. It is a gradual process, but by the time they are physically mature their scales are done developing too.

Adults call dragonets 'Softies', which many take as an insult cuz they wanna grow up and stop being called kids, damnit! Technically, Softie can be used affectionately but a lot of the time it is condescending, ironically used by newly mature AntWings to say they are all grown up now, thank you, stop babying me! >:(

(Far right) Many talons are good for multitasking

The other main gimmick for AntWings is six legs! Not only are they crazy strong, they also have an extra set of front legs to lift things with. They can be used individually or synchronized in sets.

Antennae can be used to track and communicate (....FOOD.... THIS WAY...)

AntWings have the best sense of smell of any tribe, Pyrrhia or Pantala, because of their antennae. They can do just about anything with them. Just like how FlashWings can sense a dragon's heart pulse AntWings could tell you how old you are and where you live based on your smell alone. Even if they've never met you!

Supermajors are the soldier class, built for fighting for and protecting their tribe. They have huge tusks, extra armoured scales, a larger build, more fire in their tail organs and - oh yeah, the whole reasons the AntWings exist!

[1] Strong muscles squeeze liquid out hard enough to cramp - so there is none sucked back in

[2] Sometimes, if the muscles are too weak or the liquid is ignited at the wrong time, it can travel back into the organ and explode

When making this tribe I was trying to decide what type of ant to base its abilities on (or if it should even be one). And then I wondered what would Pantala look like - the tribes, the history, the continent itself - if they had access to fire?

And thus the true AntWings were born: strong, six-legged dragons with the ability to shoot fire from their tails. Like the insects they are based on they are hard-working, intelligent, and a force to be reckoned with when they work together. I never sat down and made a proper timeline but lets just say things like scavengers and the Othermind were... dealt with.

[1] The liquid AntWings shoot from their tails is based on fire ants' formic acid spray. I think that's what it's called, it's been a while since I watched AntsCanada (if you know the YT channel, hello!). It is actually two chemicals that, when mixed together and exposed to oxygen, becomes highly flammable. If a spark is introduced to the equation there will be flames.

[2] To keep this ability from being too OP I made the method of using it very painful (so they don't use it willy-nilly, only as a last resort) and technically with the change of permanent disfigurement. If they mess up even once the entire organ can explode and never regrow. This way, AntWings can be dangerous if provoked (with a healthy reason to be certain they want to use their ability in the first place) and flamesilks are not rendered pointless by their existence.

And that's it I hope you liked the manifestation of my teenage ant obsession :D

SYKE rapid fire lore drops: - AntWings have tusks because I didn't want to do splitting jaws but wanted a way to honour ant mandibles. This was the result. Supermajors can do some pretty neat tricks like skewering dragons on them :) - Their spines only go halfway to mimic lion names! - The dark stripe under their eyes is something every AntWing has, so they can see properly on the savannah like cheetahs!