Maybe these are magically large ants with some sort of advanced biology which lets them be big and strong? o-o

Mebbe? o3o

Lol. Maybe. I think they might be fun being cute. I mean small. Derp!

\o3o/ Whatever the size, they are cute o3o

heheh thanks!

Formorians! The anthro ant people of old D&D

My first thought too.

And honestly, why worry about the biomechanics of strength in a fantasy setting with firebreathing dragons and owlbears.

I guess that's a good point.

Good idea, but a fomorian is a celtic monster/giant that's already in use in DnD. Good idea though!

i believe he meant formians, who were antlike outsiders from the plane of law in d&d 3.5

ah. ok. lol thanks.

I study ants a lot. It might not be much of an "ability" per se, but ants have very stricts sense of social structure and order. They are also very daring in that, if the hill gets attacked, they will put their lives on the line to keep it safe. I'm not very good at the DnD stat system, but if there something in the way of "willpower" or such, this could be a good stat boost for this race.

Also, may I just say, I absolutely adore this design. My (amateur) entomologist heart is overjoyed at the slight anthropomorhism, making it look "civilized" while still keeping the core elements the original anatomy. Very nicely designed!

Interesting. Maybe like You are imune to fear or get some kinda advantage if your friends are attacked. Good idea!
Isn't that just cause most ants are drones though? Not individuals?

Awww! Thank you so much! I tried to keep it as close to actual ants as I could so that means a fuck ton to hear! HUGS! Thanks! I'm going to try to make more insect creatures cause i frigg'n love them so much!

A bit of a mix-up between soldiers and drones (a common one, so no worries); Most individuals will act in defense if the hill is attacked, although it is the soldiers that have it as a "job" to defend the hill. They will most often be slightly bigger than workers and habe bigger heads/jaws than regular workers.
Drones are the only males born in a colony. They, along with queens, are the only ones who develop wings and much like queens, their main objective is reproduction.

Excited to see what other creatures you'll make. I mostly study wasps, bees, ants etc., but all bugs are good bugs~

so wait. drones have wings, not soldiers? Really? Why doens't that seem, idk, backwards?
And I meant aren't ants jsut basically computer programs with no self preservation?

That is WAY too kind of you. Yea Bees and Wasp are my favs! I have an original insect race called Vespion (bee/wasp hybrid). OH Lemme as ya, Wasp/hornets are vespids right? Are bees not? What family do both those fall under then?

Drones have wings, yes. Since their job is to pass on genes, they need a good way to travel around and so, they develop wings. If you find an ant with wings, it is almost guaranteed to be a drone. Depending on the species, it might also be a princess (a "virgin" queen), who develops wings for the same reason, but later breaks them off, as she has no use for them after mating.
Soldiers will not develop wings. Most of what they are defending (the colony and individuals) is either on or underground and therefore don't need wings.

Ants and other hymenopteras (wasps, hornets, bees, etc.) are actually very intelligent for insects; "army ants" are known for building bridges over gaps, using their own bodies to build bridges. The common wasp (yellow jacket) can tell if another wasp is of the same nest or not, simply by looking at the pattern on the other wasp's face. They can also recognize the faces of humans; there is a reported case where someone "befriended" a wasp nest by giving them water every day and after a time, they didn't mind the person close to their nest (unless they forgot the water). Surprisingly intelligent creatures, to be honest.
I have more examples, but this comment is already long enough, but in short: No. Ants have very complicated social patterns and overall behaviours. Probably also one of the most cooperative species on the planet.

And to answer your last question: Bees are of the Apidae family. That includes Honey Bees, Bumble Bees and... pretty much everything that we call some form of "bee". Wasps and Hornets are Vespids, as you said and then we have ants as Formicidae.
Together, they all fall under the order "hymenoptera".

I hope this didn't become to overwhelming a reply. When bugs come up, I tend to become very invested. Though, you should look up ant bridges/rafts. The lengths some ants go is extremely interesting.

No shit. Wow. But I rarely see ants with wings. You're telling me all those are soldiers and the drones are the special ones with wings. That seems so backwards lol. Oh what does a princess look like? I often make incest creatures/aliens a hive princess but idk much about them.

Couldn't that jsut be the hivemind? IS a hivemind even a real thing?
Those stories are nuts!

Hymenoptera...huh....doesn't roll off the tongue as much as vespid does. I could never find their family name. And I looked several times.

IT was very overwhelming at first. And I was upset, then I realized "Oh wait. I ASKED for all this info!" And it was a very interesting read. I wish i knew more about insects considering how fundamental they are to my creature design. Especially my Alien species the Warlords. I just don't know where to look and I never know of documentaries give information or just narrate the life of an animal.

Dude get invested! I've started to get into insects more cause they're awesome.
Yea I remember they were a thing but i figured that was jsut like a hive mind/instinct thing. not really problem solving like an ape. How Different ARE the Hymenos from other animals like apes, lions or wolves. Pack animals.

Omg. No I'M the one with the long comment. XD

"Princess" is just the name for a Queen that hasn't become a queen yet. They look just like queens, except that they have wings.

And yeah, finding a good place to read about all this is difficult. I haven't been able to find a good comprehensive source either. The most comprehensive thing I know of is an almost hour long documentary, so... if you have an hour to spare on a boring tuesday afternoon (and don't have a particularly weak stomach), this documentary is a pretty good source to get info: https://youtu.be/_fFGUWcr9Ok

At 25:30, they talk about the leaf cutter ants, which are the ones I study the most. Ants are complex in so many ways, I'm having to go over all my notes again, just to make sure I'm not saying something out of whack. I'm glad to hear someone's taking an interest to these little menaces and thanks for letting me nerd out for a bit.
Again, excited to see what you might come up with in the future!

Right. I figured that.

I love docs so I'll totally check them out. Thank you!

Why do you study those? Just your favorite or for fun?

No problem! Glad to have helped ya have fun! <3

Both reasons! I have a big interest in insects, especially hymenopteras (as I said, bees, ants, wasps etc.), but the leaf cutters somehow just managed to catch my biggest interest. I'm not entirely sure. In general, I just think they're neat little buggers~

Yea, that's cool. I love insectoid creatures and stuff. I need to draw more honestly.

💖👍

lots and lots of interesting designs from you today! Thanks!

Thanks. Most of these are old that I just haven't posted. Thank you!

still cute!

thank you!

cute lad

thanks!

The race of a thousand ants

but one queen to rule them all.