This is not science fiction: an ant megacolony originally from Argentina has spread (with human help) around the globe, making it the most widespread species on earth after ours. One evolutionary advantage they have over us is that they will not harm one of their own, no matter where they're from.
Saying the same about humans would be, well, science fiction. The facts are that while these ants (Linepithema humile) are hostile to other insects in their adopted ecosystems, when they meet their kind their very biological features trigger intra-species non-violence regardless of individuals' origin. That would be like the Taliban smelling Americans during this massive attack and proposing to smoke some opium with them instead of fighting.
"The enormous extent of this population," on all continents except Antarctica, "is paralleled only by human society," writes the entomologist who discovered the connection. It has been known for decades that intra-species non-violence vastly out-proportions lethal behavior in all species, but these ants are the first to be so on a global scale. For all the problems that invasive species cause, this one in its lessons may have some much-needed solutions to offer. Now we turn to science fiction.
"Humans created this great non-aggressive ant population," the researchers write in Insect Sociaux, the journal for the study of social insects. Imagine if us humans would only create and perpetuate that trait in ourselves, culturally if not biologically. This new worldwide ant megacolony's advantage in non-violence is a current event for their species, and may learning from it help create a better future for 'us', in the sense that there will cease to be a corresponding 'them'.
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