aliases:
- Metallists| Species of |
|---|
| Insect |
| Info | Value |
|---|---|
| Native to: | Totto |
| Avg length: | ~5cm |
| Avg width: | ~2cm |
| Avg height: | ~3cm |
| Diet: | Minerals |
Metallists are insect lithotrophic creatures that reside on the deserts of Totto. With pure minerals as their main diet, they have incredibly strong mandibles and teeth allowing them to cut through thin sheets of steel. Metallists are infamous for the high pitched screeching sound they produce when cutting through metal or hard rocks.
Metallists make use of incredibly sharp and jagged mandibles, partially made out of the metals they consume to mechanically digest various rocks and minerals. These mandibles curve around the front of their head, which sits ahead of the rest of their mostly rectangular body. Their six legs feature thick, stubby ends to accommodate for the sandy surface they frequently travel across.
Metallists are primarily swarm insects, acting together in groups of up to tens of thousands. An individual Metallist will only eat approximately 2 grams of material over the course of two days, but together in their colonies, this can amount to up to 100 kilograms of consumed mass in a week for a particularly large group. Metallists have been observed consuming parts of a starship, indicating a lack of regard for the type of metal they consume. They will usually ignore any organic matter they encounter but in the event of an attack can be easily killed or scared off by small flames. Metallists are very fearful of all kinds of fire and will avoid it at all costs, even if their meal is nearby.