Dealing with insect caves on new start

[Toprongy]

What would be a good way to manage them? Permanent summer with possible cold snap and I started with 4 tribals 3 of them are shooters 1 melee and no animals yet
There are 2 largeish caves with insects
I guess locking them down isn't a good way because it would take a lot of resources and they can just dig out and by the time I could kill that amount they reproduce and are way stronger

[flu007]

Hives that are spawned at the start of the game are different from infestation hives. They won't reproduce. They normally don't try to attack your base either unless something disturbs them. Which is bound to happen eventually, but walling them in thoroughly can prevent that for a long time.

[Toprongy]

Originally posted by flu007:

Hives that are spawned at the start of the game are different from infestation hives. They won't reproduce. They normally don't try to attack your base either unless something disturbs them. Which is bound to happen eventually, but walling them in thoroughly can prevent that for a long time.

Good to know
Thanks! I thought they do reproduce
This makes it a lot easier

[flu007]

Originally posted by Toprongy:

Originally posted by flu007:

Hives that are spawned at the start of the game are different from infestation hives. They won't reproduce. They normally don't try to attack your base either unless something disturbs them. Which is bound to happen eventually, but walling them in thoroughly can prevent that for a long time.

Good to know
Thanks! I thought they do reproduce
This makes it a lot easier

Yup.
What does reproduce is the insect jelly. So it could be an option to "harvest" that. You can do that by sending a colonist to go pick it up at night while the insects sleep.
Though that does take some more care, because that means you have to leave a way into the cave - a door most likely - and that does leave a way for pawns who have a mental break to wander in there, even if you forbid the door.

Once you killed the insects, the hive will start to degrade and eventually dies off. (They "maintain" the hive.)

[Breakingzap]

if you leave at least one megascarab the hive will survive i think

[Swirler]

If it's near a route raiders use, route them through the insects. Two birds with one stone.

[Kittenpox]

I would recommend setting up a zone for your colonists, which excludes that area - that way they won't accidentally wander nearby and aggro the insectoids.

[Sugar Show]

Insects only spams inside caves, so block the cave and let them die of starvation.

[counterintel]

Originally posted by Swirler:

If it's near a route raiders use, route them through the insects. Two birds with one stone.

I played a map with caves for the first time and outside one of my early entrances, was a cave with scary bugs in it, which kept me on edge for like, ever, as i was unsure how to deal with them as well.

Then one day a raid walked straight through the cave and everyone killed everyone else. Spiders survived but then bled to death.

As mentioned, they mind their own business unless something gets by them, so long as its not the infestation event but just starter cave mobs.

[Toprongy]

It's kinda solved by now, they are not reproducing, not attacking me, tho once they did come close for some reason I didn't pay attention there and a raider went in the cave and got killed by insects
Thanks for the comments!

[Ducks on Fire]

If insects are attacked by raiders/visitors they'll head toward your base to attack it, but will usually stop and head back to their cave before they reach you.

I like to steal jelly from them while they're sleeping sometimes. As long as a pawn doesn't have to step on the same tile as a bug they won't be attacked (if they're spawned via infestation event then you also have to make sure the pawn isn't set to attack threats)