 The scene depicting the two pests interacting is symbolic of:
"Outside of your own world, there's nothing like your species, except superficially, and that's true of all other creatures, intelligent or not, with the sole exception of mankind. Actually, the four of us here, though it's accidental, very nearly represent the biological spectrum of human development. The theory is that humans who can mate with each other were once physically close. When we project back into time those star systems on which humans existed prior to space travel, we get a certain pattern. They were spaced at fairly equal intervals along a regular curve, a horseshoe loop that didn't close, though if the ends were extended, the lines would have crossed.
 The lengths all species will go to in order to surpass one another or protect their own status
 The potential danger that could result if intermixing becomes prevalent and social stratification becomes impossible  The reality that 'playing dead' is the best strategy for managing other threatening species who use more overt power to retain superiority  The lengths all species will go to in order to surpass one another or protect their own status  Taphetta's actualized fear that humans will use germ plasm to become biologically superior to his race