Flygon

   

The humble Flygon, scientific name (fugere abierunt), has only recently been re-classified as a working animal, and entered into that class. The animal is common but provides a vital service. The criteria for determining a species' inclusion as a working animal requires that one or more of the following criterion be met.

• Does the species provide food?
• Does the species provide goods?
• Does the species provide a service?

  It might surprise the public to learn that the debate over whether to include Flygon into its new classification has been long and heated. Some argue that Flygon is not domesticated but domestication has never been one of the criterion required for the classification. Only one of the three criterion needs to be met. Flygon provides a service, a vital service whether he is domesticated or not.   Most animals falling under the Working Animal Class are domesticated and are not predatory animals. The predatory nature of Flygon has impeded its acceptance into the Working Animal classification. Flygon preys on pestilant insects species that are particularly unwelcome by people. Flygon preys and feeds on ordinary house flies, dog flies, horse flies, and perhaps best of all, mosquitos, spiders, and ladybugs.   The adult male Flygon measures between approximately 3 and 5 centimeters. The adult female is slightly larger, measuring between 4 and 6 centimeters in length. The flying insect resembles a tiny dragon. Perhaps that is the explanation for the legend that Flygon only appeared a century ago in the annals of animal species in Autauga. But it is just as likely that Flygon is a shortened version of "fly be gone."

One of the most interesting features of Flygon is the extreme rarity of the female in the species. The life cycle of Flygon has been observed in controlled conditions and we can posit now that the female is treated like a Queen. In a single hatchery, the Queen will deposit thousands of eggs that will be closely guarded and protected by virile young males until the young hatch. The Queen stays with the nest or hatchery until all of the offspring have hatched. In the interim, males return regularly to bring their female queen delectable foods in the form of flies and mosquitos. During the period when she is visited by male 'feeders', she determines from among them who she will next mate with so that once the young have left the next, she will tend to the business of creating offspring.

  It is very rare for a hatchling to be female, so rare, in fact, that only one of 10,000 eggs will produce a female Flygon. The Queen will try to eat the female if given the chance but there are male Flygon who guard the eggs within the hatchery. It has recently been reported and is being tested that Flygon uses special olfactory senses that are capable of both recognizing scent and producing it. There is a small gland that produces a scent that appears to draw males. The chemicals that create the scent are pheromones and are not recognizable by humankind. Evidence suggests that the pheromones produced (scent) acts to attract males to female and females are able to follow what appears to be a plotted course to its new home.