Autumnfly

A swordsman in the sky

The swamp below the Kava plants and Turrim trees is dark, and gloomy. There is little food there, and therefore little plants and animals. No, to survive here, you can do at least one of two things. One can climb... or one can fly.

– Peng Zhang, in his masterwork Taking Flight

Peng Zhang, one of the most celebrated drone taxonomists, worked tirelessly to catalogue the life in a very specific region: the kava forests of western and southeastern Zentland. Even after he became Grand Taxonomist, overseeing surveys of life everywhere within the dome, he was captivated by one, single animal.
That animal was the autumnfly. The insect, about the size of a hummingbird, yet so distinctly different, was elegant on a whole other level. Its four wings could fly it up, down, forwards, backwards, and sideways. In a flush of orange fuzzy fur, it was like a single stem, sticking out from the violet turrim climber flowers that it feeds on.
It's call was beautiful, as well. From the tymbal came a noise much different than the song of the cicada. The song was elegant, and quieter, and tuned on an almost perfect 432 Hz. The black nectar-sucking bill made the animal like a traffic cone: a combination between hummingbird, honey bee, and dragonfly. It was hard not to fall in love with these insects, and Zhang did, writing three books, including the epic Taking Flight, on this single tree-dwelling pollinating bug,

Basic Information

Anatomy

The autumnfly is much like a dragonfly, in that it has four wings, and is extremely mobile. However, as with every flying creature in this low-gravity environment, it it bigger and better.

– Grand Taxonomist Zhang, Taking Flight

The autumnfly is much like a dragonfly, but it is nearly three times as long, and much larger in general. It would be as if a dragonfly attempted to become a hummingbird, crossed with the pollenization prowess of a bee. The autumnfly is made up of three distinct parts: the beak, the head, and the body.
When insects first evolved on Clara, many evolved to pollinate the plants, the only source of food on land at that time besides other insects. The autumnfly, due to its size, has evolved to eat large amounts of nectar. Its wings support a bill that is about as long as its body, supported by an exoskeleton of chitin.
Of course, nothing is given without a price. In return for the sustenance the nectar provides, the autumnfly pollinates the plant using the fuzzy hairs on its bodies. To identify the plant, the fly has massive compound eyes, which contain over thirty-two color-sensitive pigments (compared to only three in humans). The eyes can also see in all directions at once.

Genetics and Reproduction

Wait! Holy [expletive], that is beautiful!

– Outrider Drone, observing mating

The insect is unique in its mating rituals. The male and female literally spar with their bills, in a manner akin to aerial fencing, to see if the male is strong enough to push the female back.
If he is, and forces the female far enough away from the turrim tree they nest in, they mate in midair, with the female flying upside down and the male flying right-side up. The mating ritual has only been seen by a few, but all attest to its majestic beauty, to see two other than humans fighting a battle in the sky.

Dietary Needs and Habits

The autumnfly eats exclusively nectar from a specific species. It coevolved with the long-tubed flowers of the turrim climber, a forest vine. The climber produces copious amounts of nectar, which is only reachable by the long bill of the autumnfly. The autumnfly is guaranteed a food source, while the turrim climber is guaranteed pollenization by these animals.

Scientific Name

Quatalae australis

Origin/Ancestry

Zentland Kava Forest, Clara

Lifespan

6 to 12 months

Conservation Status

Least Concern

Average Weight

1 to 2 grams

Average Length

15 cm (not including 8 cm bill)