Castes

An Ant's caste is determined at birth, which will define how they will service their colony. Caste is randomly decided as the egg is incubated, unaffected by outside factors and non-influenceable. Each caste has minute physical differences, primarily in their antennae and teeth, but can be defined primarily by blood color.

Only aner and gyne are capable of producing children. Gyne are fertile year-round and lay clutches of eggs, usually between 10-20 individuals. If pushed to the limit, each gyne can produce a full clutch every two weeks, but comfortably prefer three weeks to a month. Eggs are incubated in machines until hatching. 

Dinergate.

The most populous caste, making up roughly 50% of a colony's populace. They are the foot soldiers and cannon fodder, with high turnover and short life expectancy. Typically lacking names, they are barely educated and oftentimes treated as disposable. Not that most dinergates mind - well aware of their castes' place in overall colony structure, they don't tend to be complainers. Dinergates are physically powerful and hardy, able to withstand severe pain and injuries, capable of great athletic feats. Magery is uncommon.

Ergate.

The second most common caste, about 40% of a colony. Ergates are domestic workers, tending to the inner workings of a colony. They clean areas, work on farming, help in construction, arrange maintenance, cook food, produce clothing, etc. Though dinergates may assist in some of the more physically-demanding work, ergates have the majority under their belt. Typically demure and shy, they're more than happy to please and enjoy feeling useful. They name themselves, but only the few aner who manage them personally will remember those names, rather than designations. 

Aner.

The leaders and managers of colonies, nearing 10% of its population. It is under their supervision that ergates and dinergates flourish, assigned to work that engages them and is useful to the colony as a whole. The colony looks to aner as their guides, the responsibility of its success solely on their shoulders. Thus, aner's lives are defined by stress and expectations, though they are eager to provide and find themselves naturally falling into leadership roles. They destress by socializing with beloved gyne and recreation with one another, forming lifelong bonds. Aner are the physically strongest caste, able to perform incredible displays of both physical prowess and magery alike. 

Gyne.

Coveted gyne, the rarest of all castes - with so few in existence that they are blindly cherished. Without gyne, a colony cannot produce eggs, making them the crown jewel. Their pleasure and happiness are above all else, with the other castes happily tending and expecting their every need. Gyne are what colonies war over, raiding each other's deepest vaults to kidnap giggling, excited gyne. They are aware of their status in the colony, and look forward to 'vacations' to other colonies and being spoiled. Gyne are not forced to bear children, though it is unusual for them to dislike the process in the first place. All gyne are naturally Immortal, meaning they do not die of old age. Harming one (physically or emotionally) is a deep, offensive affront, often severely and painfully punished. 

Physicality

Ants boast four arms and are generally tall, being one of the largest races on average. They are incredibly physically fit and prime for labor, their natural magic accenting their strength and allowing for feats humans would gawk at. Aner and dinergates are the most physically powerful, with individual dinergates strong enough to uproot trees. While ergates and gyne on average have more finesse, aner are masters of intricate swordplay and are talented at detailwork.

Their four arms make them too bulky to fly or swim well, but they are swift and skilled on land. Hiking, climbing, digging, and caving come easily to them. Abyssal Colony in particular has lost the second set of arms to improve lean swimming form, though there are still a few bloodlines here and there with the full four.

Most Ants consume a diet of primarily meat, which they are capable of eating raw without illness. Resistant to most diseases and poisons, they are capable of eating most materials, ingesting lethal poisons as seasonings. Mages especially are notorious for consuming nutritionally-deficient foods, and are notoriously able to scarf down entire feasts on their lonesome.

Dinergates bleed yellow, ergates orange, aner teal, and gyne blue. The "combat" castes, dinergates and aner, have mouths full of sharp, serrated teeth and shorter feelers. The "domestic" castes, ergates and gyne, have only fangs and much longer feelers.

They are naturally resistant to extreme cold and heat, though they do enjoy cuddling regardless. 

Culture

Ants love their colonymates.

Deep adoration runs through Ants when they are immersed in their colony. Friendship comes easily, as they are united in their dedication to the colony, their goals aligned. DIligently, they fight and provide for one another, knowing that their colony will provide for them in return. Colonies are typically socialist in nature, sharing resources and goods freely. Ants are allowed personal belongings, usually stored in their communal dorms, but are not particularly materialistic and are happy to selflessly donate to the colony proper.

Generally, Ants are extremely intelligent, curious, and generous. A social race, isolation is maddening to them, and they foster enormous networks of friends and acquaintances. Their capacity for remembering names, faces, personalities, likes, and dislikes is immense, and they are highly attuned to other peoples' emotions. Within a colony, they are more than happy to share in each other's bounties and care for the sick or weakened. Extremely dedicated and diligent, they are rarely lazy, to the point that the concept of shirking work is often foreign.

Authoritarian, they look to their leader aner and managers for guidance and approval. Ants respect the hierarchies of both caste and government, defaulting to respectful terms and titles. Though, of course, disagreements and respectful arguments arise, name-calling and gossip is reserved only for the colony outsiders, the undesirables. Duels, which end in unconsciousness or surrender, are often how the mantle of Colony Leader is transferred.

They are ragingly xenophobic to outsiders from their colonies, however, and can be actively antagonistic towards rival Ants. This violence breaks down, however, when Ants are exposed to each other long enough, as their natural friendliness and camaraderie takes over. Still, if an Ant does not feel drawn towards another, they have no qualms massacring and desecrating their corpse.

Names.

All Ants are given a designation while still an egg. This designation, a mixture of letters and numbers, is kept throughout childhood and adolescence. During these years, aner try on nicknames for one another, while ergates and dinergates might select names based on their appearances or physical feats they find striking. 

Aner will select a proper name for themselves when they come of age at 20, which will be recorded in the colony's census. It is possible to change their name later, though it is a rare phenomenon. Ergates' designations are recorded; dinergates are merely recorded by quantity. Gyne are given birthnames, usually loving compliments and strings of titles. They choose a simple name for themselves at 20, like aner.

Pheromones.

All Ants have two long antennae (or "feelers") on top of their head. Highly sensitive and partially magical, these feelers allow for them to emit and intake pheromones and hormones, which they use as a mode of secondary communication. Pheromones are used to express emotions and intimacy, serve as quick introductions (often 'listing' name, governmental branch, and caste), and articulate, define, detail, or accent speech. 

These feelers are sensitive to the touch and can be pleasurably stroked, though they are equally sensitive to pain and are often removed as a form of torture. Though Ants that lack feelers struggle to fully speak with pheromones, they can still "smell" others' pheromones faintly and lightly exude their own, still. Lack of feelers is not used as a basis to ostracize Ants, and instead is seen as a disability that feelered Ants will work around for their colonymates.

Isolation.

As a highly social race that depends on their relations to feel secure, isolation is pure torture to Ants. Being locked alone in a room for only a mere few hours is enough to invoke hallucinations, degraded sanity, and separation anxiety. Extended periods of isolation are so harrowing that the stress can be deadly, oftentimes killing the Ant within a day or so from elevated blood pressure, adrenaline, and self-harm. As such, it is considered heinous torture, reserved only for high-profile captives, if at all.

Ants exposed to any measure of severe isolation are extremely clingy, jumpy, and possessive. They are hypervigilant and paranoid, fearing being forgotten or alone, and will go to any means to avoid even the suggestion of being isolated. Hallucinations often persist for weeks or months after exposure, and isolated Ants tend to imprint heavily on whoever they were exposed to first after isolation.

There are a rare few Ants unaffected by isolation. But they are strange, unusual exceptions, and are often deemed suspicious.

Childrearing.

Young Ants are looked after by the Education branch of government, which oversees batches of each caste and ensures they are prepared to fulfill their duties. They spend little time of their lives as children, and fewer as babies - already capable of great dexterity, painful bites, and some limited abstract thinking as soon as they've hatched from the egg. Young Ants do not cry as babies, learn language quickly, and mature swiftly.

Ants naturally have a high rate of mutations, and lineages are almost impossible to trace (not that Ants care very much, as they are generally incapable of familial bonds). These mutations mean that many Ants look incredibly dissimilar to each other, and while they are primarily cosmetic, they ensure that colonies do not become inbred.

By mid-teenagehood, they are comparable to human adults, though they are not considered 'adults' until age 20. Still, dinergates often join the army roughly at 16, for comparison. Aner select a career at 20 to apprentice under, often recommended by their Education supervisors. They will then train in that career for a few decades. Gyne are considered adults at 18, though they often don't have their first clutch until 25.