> But my theory falls apart with the reproduction system. We don't really reproduce other 'countries'.

Sure we do. The UK has a whole lot of offspring, for instance.

Offspring, perhaps. But kidnapping is not reproduction.

I'd say it's reproduction, it's just not voluntary reproduction. Every time a culture invades another, you can think of it as creating a new culture that has the "genes" of the previous two. Examples include the influence of the moors on Spain, the changes to the English language due to the Norman conquest, and the modern unique Afrikaner culture of South Africa.

I'd say it is a mix.

Partly reproduction, partly conquering. As usual the place is not empty.

Xenomorphs (or less exotically, parasitic wasps) reproduce just fine in that style.

Countries die and are reborn as new countries. The USA is a child of England.

Countries definitely do reproduce, usually on a longer cycle than that of the humans that make them up.

In some ways that's what collonialism is. It doesn't happen as much these days but if/when we start colonizing other planets, that would be a form of countries (or unions) reproducing.

> It doesn't happen as much these days

Oh, we still lay the eggs of new countries in the corpses of ones we kill.

Search 'Wikipedia US Involvement in Regime Change' for more details.

I'm not sure about ants, but with bees the males generally come from other colonies. A princess mating with males from the same colony may cause problems in the offspring.