Shardfly
Shardflies are a tiny insect, not usually larger than a couple of centimetres. They are most prominent in the western and southern parts of Antir, particularly the Eanth Steppes and Avitus Barrenlands.
They are however most known for their swarming stage, where they can form vast plagues numbering in the tens of billions of individuals. These are not only dangerous for the famine and devastation on crops they can cause, but for their sharp slicing bodies, which is where they get their name. The abdomen is covered in a serrated chitin that juts out on both sides, angled slightly downwards. When they fly, their legs are tucked in, making their bodies appear like hanging bullets or knives. Known to be capable of speeds of 30mph/48kmh, they easily cut skin and flesh.
About 1 in every billion in a swarm, will be a Shardfly Queen. These individuals have a slightly different lifecycle, diverging from their kin around the 3rd instar. From then on, they grow rapidly, eventually reaching a size of up to a metre. These queens have only ever been observed in the centre of a plague, and will seek large prey they can carry off with the plague to use as live incubation to deposit their eggs into. They have 6 wings, instead of the usual 4, and will team up to carry prey together.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Both the normal Shardfly form and the queens can reproduce, though the queens will lay millions of eggs in a matter of weeks, the normal Shardfly will lay only a handful. The queens seem to have evolved to make sure a large number of Shardflies can be spawned at once, in a cyclical manner. This essentially guarantees a plague will form every 12 years.
Growth Rate & Stages
The Shardfly has two lifecycles; the queens that live for 12 years, and the normal Shardflys living around 4 years. The first 3 instars are identical, from hatchling, to nymph, to wingless adolescent. Beyond this, the normal Shardfly will immediately start growing as a winged adolescent, then a winged adult, and lastly a fully grown adult, for a total of 6 stages. For the Shardfly Queens, they will not grow wings until the last instar. They go from wingless adolescent to wingless adult, to princess, then to queen, and finally winged queen, for a total of 7 instars.
Scientific Name
Volaremorpha Scalpere
Geographic Distribution
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