killgore wrote:What I got out of the book was that the hives where intentionally splitting, like the first one did, because they see more land undefended. When the CS came and kicked Tolkeen out, the bugs saw it in the same way as a dominance battle of queens. Now that the old queen (Tolkeen) has been vanquished, the other queens and hives can challenge the new queen (CS), so they're grabbing territory. Not because their hives have reached the point of expansion. IIRC, Aftermath even mentions this, as does XI.
Well, let's look.
Aftermath, 69
Left unchecked for these past four or five years, the Xiticix population has continued to explode, not quite at a geometric rate, but close to it. Soon, swarms from each hive will go forth with a new, young Queen to start their own hive and increase the current Hivelands range by 33%.
This passage is self-explanatory; the population has exploded at close to a geometric rate, and the hives are ready to create new colonies.
The Xiticix population has grown steadily over the war years, and like an overripe tomato, threatens to burst and spill into the fallen defeated Kingdom of Tolkeen, as well as northern Wisconsin and possibly the state of Iron Heart and upper Michigan.
As with the first passage, the picture is pretty clear: the xiticix population, like an overripe tomato, is more than full- it is swollen to the point of bursting.
And we have an idea of what constitutes "full" for a hive (200-300 million bugs).
Though the Xiticix constantly encroached on the Kingdom of Tolkeen and there would have been eventual conflict, the insectoids saw the Tolkeenites as the dominant force in the region and held off. However, with the dramatic fall of Tolkeen and the mass exodus of its people, to the Xiticix, this indicates the region is "up for grabs," and the Coalition Army a new competitor for the land. This in and of itself could cause the Xiticix of the hives bordering on or located in upper Minnesota to expand into the now unclaimed (as they see it) land south of them, as well as offer new opportunities for the half dozen new queens about to splinter from the established hives. The expansion of the Duluth Hive has already begun and Crookston and Fargo should soon follow.
That first sentence shows that the xiticix were ready, willing, and able to start moving into that territory the moment Tolkeen wasn't an issue, something that the bugs wouldn't do (not in more than outpost numbers, anyway) if they weren't at their full population levels.
This passage doesn't explain why the bugs are expanding (that was already explained in the first two passages I quoted), it explains why they're expanding
into the Tolkeen area.
When competing for resources, you first grab the resources that the competition is after.
Furthermore, the second to last sentence shows that the Xiticix had a half-dozen new queens
already about to splinter from established hives- the fall of Tolkeen only provided them with a good opportunity to actually do so.