Antlion (Caste)

The most widely-seen caste of Antlion is known simply as antlions, or common antlions.

Anatomy

An antlion has head shaped like a truncated, triangle-based pyramid and a large, rounded abdomen with no visible thorax. The top of the head and abdomen and the legs have armoured plating, but the antlions are unprotected from the underside and back where one can see their dark flesh. The armour plates themselves are brightly coloured can be mixes of green, yellow, orange and red. Antlions have five, large teeth. Three sharp teeth on top and two, longer fangs underneath that slope upwards.

Antlions have six legs, all on the abdomen, all with two knees. The hind legs, far up the abdomen, are the longest and reach out in front of the antlion, while the middle pair of legs reach out behind the antlion, giving the legs a strange criss-cross configuration that allows them to run at a suprisingly fast pace.

The front legs are the shortest and hidden underneath the abdomen. They are not used for walking, but for jumping. They are used to springboard the antlion to great heights and are sometimes used for clawing at prey. When an antlion jumps the armour plates on its abdomen fold out and its wings are revealed. These wings do not allow fully flight, but do allow the antlions to glide long distances.

Life & Behaviour

The common antlions are general defenders of the colony and will do their job with extra enthusiasm during the spawning season. They attack primarily with their hind and front legs, which taper down into claws. They are expert burrowers and can detect the vibrations in the soil above the colony caused by interlopers. Anything travelling above a colony is likely to be ambushed by a small pack of antlions.

If a trespasser manages to defeat the first pack of antlions, they will be quickly replaced and any prey that is not brought down by the intial onslaught will eventually be brougth down by fatigue. Even if an interloper is not stopped by the waves of antlions throwing themselves at it, a guard will eventually be dispatched to aide the suicide squads of antlions. When the prey finally falls the antlions drag them back to the colony to feed the young.

Husbandry

Common antlions cannot be harvested for any useful subtances, but pheropods, or bugbait, can harvested from guards that can be used to shepherd antlions. The antlions will believe anyone holding bugbait is an guard and will follow and protect him to the death.