Biter Bugs

Article written by Jay

Biter bugs are a sort of insect or insect equivalent to the size of an average human's thumbnail. They have two sets of pincers on what appears to be their head. They have no neck to speak of, though there is a line between the head and the body. They have a shimmery carapace, which seems to shine a different colour depending on what angle the light hits these creatures at. For some reason, they seem to thrive despite being non-toxic to eat and being very easy to spot. We have yet to figure out just what makes these creatures so successful, though the leading theory, proposed by Angel, is that it has something to do with their diet.

Angel: :D

Crystal: Interesting how you say 'leading theory' rather than 'basically only theory other than some outlandish ones proposed both by Mina and by Ember, with the reminder that Ember is a child.'

Mina: Mean!

Crystal: Not helping your case.

The diet of biter bugs seems to be made entirely of corpses. In fact, on and inside the bodies of rotting animals seems to be the only places one can even find these bugs. When they do appear, they tend to swarm the corpse, transforming the bloated body into something of a writhing rainbow of light and decay. The sight of it is oddly beautiful, in its own strange way.
We have not yet confirmed the idea that biter bugs travel and rest underground, though it does seem to be the only idea that makes sense. Their ability to move about unseen, seemingly springing from nothing once meat has reached a certain point of decay, and vanishing once they've eaten their fill. 
Biter bugs do not seem to get in the way of other scavenger animals as well. They will be eaten alongside the meat they are riddling with their bodies and cause no ill-effects that we have been able to measure. In fact, some scavanger animals seem to eat more of these bugs than they do the meat they're supposedly after.