Yanme'e

The Yanme'e, nicknamed Drones or Buggers by the UNSC, are a sapient insectoid species and one of the former client species of the Covenant. The species exhibits social structures comparable to terrestrial eusocial insects, with a strict division of labor among a set of biologically-distinct castes, whose roles have further diversified with technological and civilizational development.

Evolution and prehistory
The Yanme'e evolved on Palamok, a large but low-density terrestrial planet whose low gravity allowed local flora and fauna to grow to comparatively large sizes. The species' ancestors inhabited kilometers-tall forests and vast cavern systems prevented from collapsing under their own weight by the low gravity.

Anatomy and physiology
Contrary to some popular preconceptions, the Yanme'e do not possess a literal collective consciousness; rather, all Yanme'e are distinct individuals, though only queens and reproductive males possess the cognitive breadth and independence comparable to the typical definition of a sapient species; likewise, all members of a hive are compelled to work together for the common good. This is not a mere cultural preference for conformity and consensus, but a trait hard-wired into the Yanme'e psychology. Because of this ingrained hive mentality, some interpretations regard Yanme'e hives as the basic unit of Yanme'e society, a kind of "meta-organism" that holds considerably more importance in viewing the species overall than Yanme'e individuals, with the exception of Queens.

Members of other Covenant species tasked to interact with Yanme'e (e.g. within military units, guilds or industry) were often specifically trained for such a purpose from early on in special orders, as the peculiarities and nuances of Yanme'e psychology and communication are not easily understood or handled even with translators.

Queens
A Yanme'e Queen gives orders acoustically, despite possessing only a modest larynx-analogue of her own. Instead, multiple layers within each wing rub against each other to produce sounds. The larger the wings on a Queen, the louder they can shout, which gives them an edge in administrative duties. Of course, hives are built so that sound carries and workers miles away can hear their orders. Replying to those orders is trickier, but the Yanme'e have managed over the millennia. Until the invention of radio, this was accomplished through a web of steel cords strung throughout the hive, with a code of plucking and rubbing that the Queen reads with her antenna and legs. The area controlled by a hive is limited by both the flight time of drones and by the distance that a Queen’s voice can carry. Younger Queens still capable of flight often served as foremen on distant projects, though they had to land before issuing orders. Drones are technically adept and can carry out complicated orders, but do little in the way of independent thought. When two equal groups of Yanme'e are fighting, the group which has a Queen or a Daughter with it enjoys a massive tactical advantage.

Since antiquity, Queens have been decorating their wings with paint and precious stones or metal. This is only partly artistic; the primary goal is akin to tuning an instrument. The stiffness and sound-propagating properties of the enamel is honed until the wings sing like a Stradivarius, and the jewels damp out unwanted harmonics characteristic of aging carapaces. Still, the bourgeois finery with which Queens have decorated themselves with is nothing short of awe-inspiring, and quality pre-Contact elytrons fetch high prices among wealthy Covenant.

As stated earlier, this all changed with the introduction of the radio, which was shortly followed by miniaturized piezoelectric sensors. Previously, Palamok was honeycombed with fiefdoms not larger than thirty kilometers across. Suddenly, a Queen could command territory hundreds of times that size, and receive information from across the planet. The resulting orgy of destruction reached a scale typically attributed to nuclear warfare. The rapid pace of radio development meant that what Yanme'e do not know about encryption, jamming, and broadcasting could fit in a short book, maybe even a pamphlet. A few decades later, the Covenant arrived in-system and attempted to recover Forerunner artifacts by force. One Queen, who survived both the Radio War and the First Contact, referred to the Radio War as “bloody and regrettable, but fairly good practice.” The Covenant on the receiving end of Yanme'e violence were suitably impressed, and the Palamok Edict still stands; the Yanme'e are not to be given interstellar communications equipment.

It’s not that the Yanme'e are any more belligerent than other Covenant species, but there are a few things which make the Covenant nervous about a war with the Yanme'e. Due to their biology and culture:
 * Nearly all forms of Yanme'e martial arts revolve around dismemberment.
 * Dead and dying troops double as "field rations".
 * Their common language has fifteen words for "chemical warfare", most of which are derived from the root word for "efficient".
 * Drones are numerous, and, beyond specialist individuals, generally expendable. Training a good worker or engineer takes time and investment, which is why skilled individuals are not readily wasted, but the bulk of the Yanme'e hordes the Covenant faced in the Contact War were little more than kamikaze pilots and berserkers.

Now that many industries are reliant on Yanme'e labor, an uprising from Palamok would be a very long, protracted war with incalculable civilian casualties. But the drones are excellent workers, and many Queens have accepted the Covenant religion. The modern hive is a large affair, usually encompassing three or more Queens and thousands of Drones. A Queen’s elytrons are studded with sensors and transmitters to capture and disseminate their orders, though many of the Queens who undergo this augmentation lose the ability to fly. Some Queens do not give birth, but instead fulfill purely administrative duties. Some other Queens are blinded and have their wings removed, usually by the Hives which supply laborers to the Covenant.

Drones
Various castes of sexless workers and fighters are commonly generalized under the "drone" category, and make up the vast majority of the Yanme'e population. Even though it technically only applies to a specific set of castes, UNSC troops frequently use the moniker "Drone" synonymously with the overall species, as encounters with males or queens are rare.

It is debatable whether Yanme'e drones are truly sapient in the usual sense, but the general consensus is that they are not; while they are capable of performing incredibly complex tasks and even improvising within the boundaries of their craft, they do so with mechanical efficiency and the explicit direction of a higher authority; they do not seem to possess complex emotions or engage in introspection the way most sapient species do, and the types of social relations they engage in are basic and exhibit little variation from culture to culture. The drones' skillsets are also highly specific and beyond a certain point, it is nigh-impossible for drones to learn new skills. Most of their interaction - either among themselves or with outsiders - is of a mechanical, goal-driven nature. As such, they have sometimes been likened to biological automata more than individuals in any conventional sense.

For more individually-focused sophonts, Yanme'e psychology seems counterintuitive and difficult to relate to. Mentally healthy Yanme'e workers derive what can be thought of as happiness and self-fulfillment almost solely from their servitude. Even if drones were capable of conceiving of the idea of independence, they would be wholly mystified as to why such a thing would be desirable; the concept of rebellion is literally unthinkable, and a drone would go mad if forced to make complex or life-altering decisions for themselves. While workers and fighters are capable of rivalry, jealousy, or even some form of attachment to one another, this does not extend beyond their immediate peer group. Concepts such as sweeping social changes or social mobility are not even contemplated. An exception to this are the Unmutuals, which by some quirk of evolution do possess a sense of individuality - something that usually drives them insane due to its inherent contradiction with their natural place in Yanme'e society, even if they are not inherently violent or psychotic. There are exceptions, however, and some Yanme'e societies make a distinction between "Autonomous" and "Unmutual", with the former type treading a fine line between a healthy drone and an Unmutual; particularly after the advent of the Covenant, such individuals have at times been used in various roles outside the hive and interacting with other species, similar to males. Overall, the "Unmutual" category encompasses a vast array of personality aberrations and disorders, which are typically lumped together by most queens out of cultural prejudice against non-conforming individuals.

Lower-caste Yanme'e remain functional even if separated from their queen as long as their assignments remain clear; however, they can grow increasingly anxious or agitated without tasks to complete, or a designated authority to command them. Drones must always have a clear idea of who is in charge; conflicting masters or orders can present challenges to their comprehension and even sanity. In the past, rival queens have engineered chemical agents that would alter drones' loyalties, often either causing confusion or even shifting their loyalty to another queen.

Males
Unlike drones, Yanme'e males do possess a measure of individuality and something more akin to conventional sapience, but they are not (apart from rare exceptions) very creative or industrious on their own; even with their ostensibly free will they are still bound to their queen and her wishes. Nevertheless, their more adaptive brand of intelligence means they are able to serve as adjutants and aides, even representatives for their queen, and the handfuls of most capable males are typically picked out as "hive princes" and various lower ranks of subordinate commander-regents to represent their queen and direct drones' operations outside the core hive, as their manner of consciousness also makes them the most suited for interacting with other species. Notably, however, such roles have arisen only with the development of technology and the Yanme'e's assimilation into the Covenant; prehistoric Yanme'e hives had little use for males outside reproduction.

Hives almost always have a surplus of males. Males who are not seen as necessary for any role within their home hive, are often ceremonially exiled, though some may also choose to do so voluntarily (customs depend by hive). During their exile, which may and usually will last years, they become "hiveseekers" searching for another hive to take them in, and must prove their worth with their feats and accomplishments. In their new hives, males either become suitors for the queen (who can have any number of males to mate with) or, in lesser cases, aides, representatives and sub-commanders. Powerful queens can have scores of skilled and accomplished males serving them, while lesser hives must virtually fight for the metaphorical scraps and take in hiveseekers with few claims to fame. This is a fairly ancient practice to ensure genetic diversity, though over the course of history it has assumed increasing complexity and ceremony, with different hives having their own traditions surrounding the rite. Many hiveseekers also remain as such for life, either by choice or simply a failure to be noted and taken in by a queen. These males typically serve the Covenant or its provincial states in various roles. Within hives, the castration of males deemed surplus or unfit for reproduction remains fairly common. While regarded as an indignity, becoming such an "eunuch" can at times improve the standing of a male who otherwise would have few options for social mobility.