Dragon Moth, family Tineamors

"If the sky could dream, it would dream of dragons" -Llona Andrews

The Sphingidae of the anthropocene are a family of Lepidopterans (moths and butterflies) that have adopted a type of flight similar to that of hummingbirds and flies, with the ability to hover in place. These diurnal moths feed on nectar from flowers using a greatly elongated proboscis, and many are essential pollinators of many species of fruit trees. But with the fall of the fruiting angiosperms in the Cataclysm, many of these moths had to adapt to a more sinister lifestyle. And from these simple beginnings, one of the most important dynasties in Spinas Mundi would arise.
The first dragon moth appeared only a couple million years after the Cataclysm, as their primary food source had been destroyed in the Great Extinction. The Slibinas Moth, (Primavenada Tineamors) is the first of the family known as Tineamors, characterized by long feathery antennae that are tuned to detect carbon dioxide and heat, elongated, strong legs tipped with two sharp claws, strong flight muscles, and a proboscis that terminates in five tendrils arranged in a star shape. This once herbivorous insect has taken to a predatory lifestyle, hunting prey that dwells on the ground by hooking its claws under the edges of the insects carapace, lifting it into the air, and probing its underbelly or head with its proboscis. Once it finds a soft spot, it uses the sharp tips of each of its seven tendrils to bore a hole inside and drink the hemolymph inside. The dry carcass is then discarded.
Another species that would go on to massive success is the Snapdragon, (Flosfallax Insidiis), an ambush hunter that lives on the forest floor. Its wings have lost much of their strength, and are now no longer suited to lifting prey from the ground. Instead, its proboscis has extended to fantastic proportions, now more than twice the length of its body. The length of the proboscis is green, while the tendrils on the end have become somewhat flattened, and can change color between yellow, white, and red. This coloration mimics that of many species of flower, and is used to draw in pollinating insects, the Snapdragons main food source. The tendrils produce a sticky saliva that mimics the taste and smell of nectar, but also traps any insect that touches it. The tendrils then curl inward toward the central mouth, where the insect is swallowed and digested.
The strangest of the dragon moths in the Microcene is the Corkweed, an insect that has abandoned almost all of the traits of complex arthropods, and now has a lifestyle more befitting a clam, or some other kind of mollusk. The females of the Corkweed, (Cortexviriditas Osradicis), have lost their legs, wings, eyes, antennae, and most of the brain and muscles. Their caterpillars appear normal and feed on toxic plants to store up poison in their body for adulthood. They then pupate underwater, having evolved their spiracles into rudimentary gills. Upon emergence the adults pierce the cocoon with their proboscis, which roots itself to the sediment with four branching tendrils. Lacking the ability to breathe underwater, its buoyant abdomen rises to the surface of the water where it can breathe normally. Rows of tendrils on its proboscis capture plankton from the water, while its bright red body warns predators of its poison. The males have short lifespans and look like normal moths. Their only purpose is to reproduce.

Family: Tineamors
Distribution: Worldwide
Number of Species: 500, various subspecies
Ancestors: Hawk moths, family Sphingidae
Average size: 6 inches in length
Common traits: Four scaly wings that allow them to hover, elongated proboscis, semi-flattened abdomen, robust legs, colorful exoskeletons, feathery antennae.
Reproduction: The Slibinas moth simply lays its eggs in the dirt and leaves them. The Snapdragon and Corkweed are much stranger. The Snapdragon has evolved a strategy very similar to the flowers it mimics, in which packets of sperm are attached to the leg of an insect, which is allowed to leave without being eaten. This packet is hopefully deposited on a female Snapdragon, where the sperm may be accepted. Eggs are dispersed in a similar way. Corkweed males spend all of their short existence seeking out a female, which once fertilized attach their eggs to the male, who finds a safe place to deposit them.

Art by Crustaceous Rex