"Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky is an excellent sci-fi novel that also includes ants that were uplifted by a human terraforming experiment.
They're interesting semi-aliens because the colonies are incredibly capable in many respects but ultimately lack self-awareness, which leaves the ants open to manipulation by other uplifted species that are capable of motivated planning. The ants become like biological technology for the other species.
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Ants are aliens aren't they. Or at least we might be more likely to find antlike creatures if we do find extraterrestrial life.
"Children of Time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky is an excellent sci-fi novel that also includes ants that were uplifted by a human terraforming experiment.
They're interesting semi-aliens because the colonies are incredibly capable in many respects but ultimately lack self-awareness, which leaves the ants open to manipulation by other uplifted species that are capable of motivated planning. The ants become like biological technology for the other species.
That reminds me of Phase IV. It's like an alien invasion movie, but with ants instead: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070531/
Arthropods would probably think we were the aliens considering their taxonomic dominance of Earth since the beginning of the Cambrian Explosion.