Atonian
Atonians are one of two sophontic species from Aton, one of two planets in the Xauein System. Atonians are the more primitive sophonts, while atomians dominate the solar system with their intelligence. At first glance, one wouldn't think an atonian is an intelligent species. They communicate with others of their own species through elytra movements, and rarely converse with atomians.
Anatomy
Atonians are an insectoid species, in the Dynastinae subfamily, also known as rhinoceros beetles. Like most others in this subfamily, they walk on six legs. A thick, shimmering purple, chitinous elytra protect two pairs of delicate white wings. Their shiny, pristine bodies are the same purple colour, with yellow and white spots around the head and abdomen.
Their heads are large with an elongated horn, pointing back at a pair of horns sticking forwards from the thorax. To survive in such cold environments, atonians are blessed with thick furry coats along their thorax and elytra.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Family: Scarabaeidae
Subfamily: Dynastinae
Genus: Oryctes
Species: O. sophontus
(Standing on six legs)
Average Length: 170 - 190cm
Average Wingspan: 160 - 190cm
Average Lifespan: 6 - 9 months
Diet
As larva, atonians feed on wood of the few trees found within the ice giant. Eggs are buried deep within large conifers, and upon hatching, their main mission is to dig from the centre of the trees outwards. Entire conifers can be eaten in days when several large batches of eggs hatch.
Adult atonians feed on permafrost. An unusual diet for an unusual species, the colder the soil, the better. Atonians break down permafrost and consume methane trapped inside. It was previously thought by atomians that these people damage the planet by releasing trapped gases, but they actually do the opposite. These toxic gases are turned into healthy gases for the planet's environment.
Reproduction & Growth
Female atonians have small pincers which they use to dig into the centre of giant conifers that grow within Aton. The eggs incubate for 90 days and the babes are born precocial. As the eggs are incubating, the mother follows her steps back out of the tree, sealing the eggs in by recycling the chewed up wood and spitting it back out, hardening in the process.
Larva must wriggle and chew their way through the tree, and only the fittest will survive and make it out. Unless the icy storms sweep up the larva as they fall out of the tree, the babies will land on solid ground and immediately cocoon themselves as they shed their old coat. The cocoon is purely to protect the insect during this vulnerable process.
Habitat
While larva exclusively live within conifers and the ground floor surrounding them, adult atonians are a busy species, constantly moving from location to location. Hidden behind the icy storms of Aton are large islands, all linked through auroral bridges. These bridges only reveal themselves during dawn and dusk, which is when atonians prefer to migrate between islands. Flying is a possibility for these beetle people, but it is dangerous as their wings are fragile and the storms can easily tear these wings off.
Wherever permafrost can be found, atonians are found shortly after.
Behaviour
Quite a more laid-back species compared to atomians, when left alone, all atonians want to do is walk, sleep, and eat. Can't blame them, really. They may not appear as an intelligent species but when approached these people are incredibly smart.
They don't communicate in traditional means, and these methods of communication are often disregarded by scientists as official languages - it took the People's Association 93 years after the discovery of these people before they were classified as sophonts.
Atonians aren't necessarily social, but they do gather en masse to consume vast islands of permafrost, regurgitating it as regular soil, only to be transformed into permafrost a few years later. Fights can break out between atonians if permafrost becomes scarce, which is a rare occurance but battles are bloody, limbs and wings flying about as they tear their horns into others for the limited available food.
Average Wingspan
160 - 190cm
sophontic beetles! i love them so much
thank youu <33