Oh I agree it is a very very common misconception even I only realized after watching the film half a hundred times.
But they do have distinct shapes, angles, and colors. Brown vs Red, flat top vs curved top, etc.
It's just that these don't seem like very major differences. If anything these seem like the differences you might find between subspecies of the same thing rather than two unrelated animals. Again highlighting how similar they are and how unsimilar Arachnids are too each other.
It would be one thing if the two beetles just happened to resemble each other due to convergent evolution, similar environments producing similar bodytypes, but if I understand you correctly you are suggesting the Arachnids bioengineer their different castes. And it boggles my mind that an intelligent design, rather than impersonal forces, could so closely mirror another lifeform so closely that they've never encountered.
The bugs, a race which has no technology of any kind can pinpoint snipe a city from across the galaxy WITH A ROCK, despite countless defences and early warning systems in between the two empires?...Unlikely.
well if we're talking out of universe, yeah it is a little far-fetched which is why I lean towards the Arachnids being more capable than just STL asteroid slinging. Possibility manipulating gravity to form wormholes to leapfrog asteroids and spores across interstellar distances. Which would neatly explain the rather overly strong gravimetric force the rock the Roger Young encountered.
The Doylist explanation is likely Paul Verhoeven was either unaware or didn't care about the actual distances involved and just thought plasma directed asteroids worked well with his version of the Arachnids.
In-universe however the plausibility of the Bugs being capable of "pinpoint {sniping} a city" is set in stone. Even if the Federation framed them they have to have the capability to do so in order for it to be believable.
Also ST2 and ST3 are the results of writers/producers not understanding the first film, predictably they go with the very literal interpretation of a propaganda film.
Actually I would say ST2 and especially ST3 double-downed on the "Humans are the real bastards" hinted at in ST1 and if anything I think their weakness/failure to actually make the Terran Federation the true villains in this regard are because they agreed too much with Paul Verhoeven's vision/world view rather than misunderstanding it. Namely, in my opinion, the reason why the Bugs are presented as one-dimensional, omnicide maniacs against humanity is because the Terrans are "Fascists", which in this case should be translated as a straw effigy of everyone Verhoeven doesn't like politically, and thus deserve to be exterminated by the Arachnids. Because that's how leftists think. Not in good actions/bad actions but "good people"/"bad people" where anything a "good person" does is morally justified because they did it.
Everything you see the Federation do is from a slanted angle
Even if I were to grant you the idea that it's "slanted", which I've seen no evidence to suggest that, it would be the only frame of reference we have. Your basically arguing we should disregard the actual canon of the movie in favor of your preference of what the universe should be.
Arachnids have been known for quite sometime (maybe even tens of years) and judging from all the maimed adults/old people they've fought them before.
The Arachnids certainly were known about before the events of the movie. The Quarantine zone was established, Rico's teacher had a hologram and at least basic knowledge of their race ect. Through it's unclear if humanity ever fought with them and it's certainly doesn't show the humans were the aggressor.
The Federation need somebody to punch to keep their act together, bugs are just a great way to have a war.
Except we see no evidence of that. Ironically ST: 3 does show civil protest and unrest by a persecuted minority but not the 1997 film which depicts the Federation as pretty idyllic, stable and, if lt. Rasczak is anything to go by, focused on encouraging both independent thought and civic virtue in their young. Between them and our timeline I know which one I'd rather live in.
They are aware the bugs can colonize other planets, but judging from how effective their anti-space weapons are (blindly launching crap into space and praying the federation are stupid enough to ram into it), I doubt their colonizing abilities are especially fast or efficient.
When using unguided "dumb" munitions, relying on volume of fire to saturate the target is certainly not the worst tactic ever. Either the Federation is forced to release their dropships further out, creating a further buffer for the fragile dropships to be picked off, or the Federation has to take it on the chin and fly into your defensive screen.
Further it's implied the Bugs deliberately baited the Federation misleading them into thinking the plasma would be light and sporadic when it would be anything but. So the Bugs almost certainly are aware of and thus have some means to detect/observe their spaceborn adversaries. In comparison detecting planets is likely child's play.
