: Note: This entire post is assuming that the Phfor(pfhor?) had an
: ecology similar to earth's and that they evolved from some form
: of insect.
Ah, but that's the fallacy - Pfhor Prime did not have an earth-like ecology, or the Pfhor could have never evolved from insects or anything like remotely like insects. If you were wondering, the reason that insects on Earth did not develop into anything intelligent, it's because of our gravity and the limitation that it places on the size of an exoskeletal organism. When an insect becomes too large, the soft internal structures can no longer be supported by an exoskeleton and they collapse. I think that is why Bungie made a point of the fact that the Pfhor are adapted to a lower gravity environment, implying that Pfhor Prime is a smaller or less dense planet with a lower gravity than Earth's. What this doesn't explain is how the Pfhor could manage to survive on higher-gravity planets - did they do some genetic engineering or apply technology, or did their natural evolutionary process ultimately lead to a more rhobust internal structure - something that couldn't get off the ground on Earth because of our high gravity.
BTW, a more significant question IMHO relates to the development of intelligence in an invertebrate - not that we can or should make strict comparisons to Earth's ecology. If we were to make a comparison, however, I would take a look at the octopus. Even though the octopus, lacks the central organization of the vertebrate/mammalian brain, it has evolved a high degree intelligence, limited only by its environment. In a more supportive environment where it could develop the structures necessary to build tools and machines, who knows?
Now, getting back to the question of social structures and comparison to earth-like insect species, I again think that it's just too limiting to try to restrict ourselves to comparing them to a single species. They may resemble our insects, but there could be critical differences the likes of which we cannot even conceive. Consider an example from the plant world. Ferns exist most of their lives as a monozygous form (not sure if that's the right word, but what I mean is that they have a single set of chromosomes), developing a dizigous form only for reproduction. That would be equivalent to the human embryo immediately producing sperm or eggs that grow up to be human beings, leaving the embryo behind to die. There are just so many possibilities when it comes to alien reproduction and social orders.
