Here's a solution that could satisfy everyone: Make a series, with each book having a different protagonist colony.
I also had an idea for the plot which would make each book/species coherent:
Imagine a kid or a group of kids discovers an old relative's secret underground laboratory, and being kids they tamper with their experiments. They accidentally activate a device which uses exotic matter (a currently theoretical concept) to decrease the amount of empty space inside atoms (FYI atoms are approximately 99.9% empty space. That's right: most of everything is nothing.), therefore decreasing size. Of course such a concept is pure science fiction and probably not actually feasible, but remember (mostly talking to myself) this is a children's book, and the laws of physics usually don't apply in such fantasies. But back to the proposed plotline. So the kids end up at the rough scale of 1 mm = 1 ft., so if they were 5 feet tall they would be 5 mm tall at this point. They then observe a small craft in the distance which was designed for the locomotion of shrunken people such as themselves. Being literally lighter than a feather, this machine is quite capable of flight. The kids attempt to reach the craft, yet are interrupted by legions of Tetramorium workers swarming the room, intent on destroying the technology to prevent human from gaining access to the Micro World. It can later be revealed that the northern populations of Tetramorium were funded by their southern Solenopsis invicta counterparts, which installed them as puppet states due to their cold resistance the RIFAs lack. So after stumbling around Tetras who are more interested in destroying the shrinking technology than them, the kids make it to the craft, and somehow, by some miracle, manage to fly the thing without ever having an inkling of experience whatsoever operating any form of moving vehicle other than maybe a bicycle. But they start bickering like kids do, and they crash near a Tetra nest. This time the Tetra patrols are very interested in the intruders (for territorial reasons), and pursue them. They are rescued by Formica workers, who are spraying the Tetras with formic acid from afar. They are forcibly taken back to the nest and presented to the queen, who gives them two choices: help them commandeer the technology for themselves (they intend to use it to wipe out the North American Tetra populations), or be fed to this year's generation of female alate larvae, who appear quite active and quite hungry. Instead of going absolutely berserk and throwing fits in mortal dread like normal kids would do in that situation, the kids suddenly decide they're going to act like adults and maturely agree to help them without a second thought, because kids' books, I guess. Go protagonists. Yay. Anyways, it is revealed that the RIFAs have established a tight hold on southern North America, and have sent their Tetramorium allies to hold northern North America until they can eugenically breed cold-resistant queens, in which case they would backstab the Tetras and take the entire continent for themselves. The RIFAs have also employed certain Polyergus colonies to assist them, seeing as Formica are their somewhat enemies anyways. In order to defeat this intricate and powerful alliance, all of the most powerful and unique species native to North America must put aside their differences and disputes and agree to combine forces to defeat the highly organized invasion. Since any myrmecological ambassadors sent to other colonies of other species would most likely be killed on sight, it is the job of the kids to bring the species together, although they must outwit the creeping network the RIFA alliance has established all over the place, as well as dealing with all of the other problems small humans would inevitably face. However, a critical task in later books would be to convince the Neivamyrmex tribes to ally themselves with the other native empires. While they distrust the invaders (and literally everyone else) and would instinctively want them expelled from the continent, the RIFAs had offered them a steady and generous supply of trophic brood (enough to sustain entire colonies of Neivamyrmex) if they joined the RIFA alliance, putting them on the fence. The kids have to convince them to use their savage and cutthroat battle tactics to once and for all rid North America of the invaders, as these powerful nomads could be the deciding factor on who wins the struggle for North America.
Just an idea, feel free to use it however and if you like.
Edited by AntsDakota, August 3 2022 - 7:45 PM.
, C. maritimus, Formica argentea, M. mexicanus 
