Wallbug

Large static plants that attach themselves to cave walls and consumes any creatures that walks past them, native to Tebburus.

Though they are called wallbugs, and resemble fauna, they are closer to carnivorous plants because they are static, despite having an entire digestive tract and many organs similar to some animal species. 

Wallbugs can grow to fairly large sizes. The largest ones can get a mouth diameter of about 1m and a significant stomach capacity. They are an asexual species, and they reproduce by creating a large buglike creature in them. The bug is sent out into the cave system through the parent's mouth to find a good place on another cave roof or floor to attach themselves to. They will have to dig out a large area of space from the wall, roof or floor where they reside to put most of their body inside, at this point only leaving the mouth exposed. They will lose almost all senses except for a number of tendrils which are attached to the mouth. As the bug grows, it becomes more reliant on the nest that it constantly digs itself to grow its body until reaching a large enough size to create their own offspring. 

The mouth tendrils are very clear and hard to see, and when a prey creature disturbs them the wallbug will notice. The next action they will take depends on where they were anchored. It would simply open its mouth if anchored to the floor, and allow the prey to fall in. If anchored to the roof or walls it will fire a secondary, much larger tendril at them to skewer them and pull them into its mouth, not too dissimilar from a harpoon gun. Floor mounted wallbug mouths are also more flush than those mounted to roofs or walls because many creatures will watch the floor where they walk, paying less attention to the roof. As such, wall mounted wallbugs tend to be the least viable and as such are less common, but some still exist in some strategic locations...

The feeler tendrils can identify the difference between an inedible object and a creature that it can eat, so its not viable to distract them by throwing stones at them. 

Their digestive tracts are not perfectly efficient. They will release excrements as a liquid from the mouth into the cave they inhabit. The liquid should dissipate much quicker than a solid will, preserving the integrity of the area that they catch prey from. 

Suons most often deal with this threat with powerful poisons. They can fire powerful crossbow bolts at them. If it penetrates the mouth entrance, it will poison the wallbug and kill them. On a large scale, this is easier to do with much more modern railguns. One strategy they use to locate this threat is that the feeler tendrils will have a small heat signature, so it is well known that small lines of heat as seen on an infrared camera might represent a wallbug. In ancient times, they would often release other creatures into a cave and watch for walbugs. They expose themselves heavily and are made quite obvious while attacking other creatures.

Though they are only present in select few caves around the planet, most caves are monitored for signs of wallbugs due to the sheer danger they can cause for suons so easily.



Cover image: Atmospheric Frigate by Tankium

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