Shimmyrock
Shimmyrocks are small insects found across Venviri. Most famous for their ability to split into two perfect copies of the same animal, shimmyrocks are a pest in the Elisian Kingdom, where the only inhabitant, Elis Episiol, lives.
Taxonomy
Shimmyrocks are a species of cockroach, under the order Blattodea. They are in the genus Duablatta, meaning two roach. They are one of the only species in this genus, characterised by the ability to divide into two identical insects instantaneously.
Anatomy
Shimmyrocks measure in at only one inch in diameter as an adult, nymphs just a third of this size.
They blend into environments by mimicking the local soil composition, imitating small rocks and pebbles. Their wings are long and pointed, translucent with iridescent scales.
The abdomen ends in a giant pincer, a useless body part that has no muscle movement but deters small predators by its appearance. The long black legs and orange antenna are covered in tiny hairs, shed to cause irritation when swallowed. It is a last resort, hoping the predator regurgitates and releases the insect.
Reproduction & Growth
Like other cockroaches, shimmyrocks produce an ootheca, an egg capsule. This species lays their ootheca on the underside of carnivorous plants to deter predators, and stores between ten to twenty eggs.
They spend two to three months as nymphs, depending if they are born in summer or winter time. Summer nymphs last two months, winter three. The more prominent lack of food in winter time means it takes nymphs longer to gain the energy required to grow into an adult.
An adult can live up to two years, producing three to four oothecas in its lifetime.
Habitat & Behaviour
Shimmyrocks are common worldwide, but abundant in the Steel Mountains. This expansive region of rock sees its magnetic mountains frequently colliding with one another.
Shimmyrocks can blend in perfectly with its environment, however a telltale sign that a rock is in fact insect is when a magnetic surge sweeps all the rock out of an area, and leaves behind every hidden insect.
They often gather in large groups, where they communicate with one another using flutters of their wings an a variety of songs. Shimmyrocks feed on whatever food is available. As omnivores, they are not fussy and can consume rotting corpses if they must.
These insects suffer from their cells dividing excessively. For whatever reason, perhaps an evolutionary advantage, shimmyrock cells multiple at a rate much higher than other species. A single insect needs to duplicate itself at least once a week to keep itself from exploding from the sheer number of cells its body contains. They will also divide into two in order to confuse and scare predators. Shimmyrocks will vibrate until their body tears into two, either half instantaneously growing back what is missing.
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That's brutal, what a strange condition for their cellular rate, once a week is wild Mochi. I can only assume they are everywhere. They also reproduce more typically besides that, what in the unhinged madness!!! How is the planet just not covered in them writhing all over gah! Such an interesting little critter though, so very cool!
Thank you so much! I'm imagining someone walking around this planet thinking it's completely void of life, only to blink and realise... they've been walking through shimmyrocks the whole time :O