Occular Fly

Written by Cyborg Starfish

A hybrid species that is both insect and amphibian, occular flies are named after their bizarre appearance. To an outside observer they literally look like a disembodied, multi-coloured eye with wings. However, if you put the creature under closer inspection, you'll find that there is more going on.

Basic Information

Anatomy

A round body held up by eight segmented wings. The front looks like a massive eye, and can move independently in it's 'socket'. When an occular fly touches the ground, it retracts it wings and its socket covers its entire body, turning it into a ball. Occular flies move on the ground by rolling. An occular fly can roll up a soft slope, but if the slope is too steep, it turns back into its flying form.

Genetics and Reproduction

Occular flies reproduce asexually. When reproducing, the completely submerge themselves into the water while in ball form. They stay there for half a day while billions of eggs start forming underneath their socket. The eggs are then pumped into the water as the Occular fly emerges. The fly uses the momentum of this pumping to propel itself back to shallow waters and leave the pond.

Growth Rate & Stages

Occular flies exists as tadpoles in shallow water for the first two days of their lives. Most of them don't get past this stage, which is why their parents tend to dump millions of them into the water in the hopes of about a hundred of them to survive. After about two days, their metamorphosis starts, in which they slowly curl up into ball form. During this metamorphosis, they seek out increasingly shallow waters so they can roll onto land immediately when the time comes. Once they're on land, they seek out a safe place to undergo their second metamorphosis, in which they transform into a fully fledged adult occular fly.

Ecology and Habitats

Occular flies can adapt to a multitude of biomes as long as there is enough precipitation and temperatures aren't too extreme, which means you won't find them in any desert, dryland or mountainous region. A sub-species of occular flies can be found in the Qoray and is incapable of surviving anywhere else due to the Qoray's unique, isolated biome. Occular swarms can be found around ponds and small lakes. All members of the swarm are born there, reproduce there, and feed themselves there.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Occular flies have no mouths. Instead, their skin absorbs nutrients from their pond. Most of their diet consists of microbes, algae, and tadpoles belonging to other species.

Behaviour

Occular flies stick around the water they were born in for their entire lives. They are known to be extremely territorial, viciously swarming any perceived intruder, and they won't stop until the intruder is chased off or dead. Occular flies can produce electrical currents to shock intruders and attackers. A single current can send a massive shiver down the target's entire body but is ultimately harmless. However, enough currents coming from multiple occular flies at the same time can have the power to kill a person.

Additional Information

Social Structure

An occular swarm is divided into two castes, nocturnal and diurnal. These two castes make sure the swarm is active and defending the pond at all times without exhausting its members.

Members of the nocturnal caste have a special glowing substance inside their bodies that causes them to glow in the dark, allowing them to communicate with each other even in the dead of night. Nocturnal conversations can be spectacular sights to behold, as each occular fly can project beautiful and intricate light shows on their own bodies.

Unlike many other swarms, occular swarms don't have a queen or any other kind of leader.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

The large eye on the front isn't just an eye, it only looks like that to scare off larger predators. In reality, it's a multipurpose organ that functions as an eye, a nose, a pair of ears and a means of communication. Occular flies communicate with each other by changing the colour of their bodies and specifically the 'iris' of their multipurpose 'eye'.

Lifespan

50 days

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Occular fly communication is much more in-depth than it seems. Not only are they capable of fully changing their entire body tint in a matter of seconds, they are also capable of projecting intricate, moving patterns onto their own bodies, using colours from all over the spectrum.

Geographic Distribution

• Valahiri

Qoray Occular vs. Regular Occular

This article only focuses on the 'regular' occular fly found outside of the Qoray, since they are more numerous. There are some key differences between the two variants.

1. Qoray occular flies are less territorial and are capable of forming alliances with other species both inside and outside of the pond. Regular occular flies, however, will only have a neutral co-existence with other species inside the pond and a hostile relationship with outside species.
2. The Qoray is home to a wide variety of giant mushrooms and trees dense enough to blot out the sun, causing Qoray ponds to be cast in shadow all day long. Because of this, all members of a Qoray occular swarm, regardless of whether they are nocturnal or diurnal, have the capacity to glow in the dark.
3. Like all organisms living in the Qoray, Qoray occular flies are bio-synthetic, while regular occular flies are purely biological.
4. Like many organisms living in the Qoray, Qoray occular flies are notoriously nonadaptive, and will die within less than a day after leaving their very specific habitat. Regular occular flies can adapt to multiple habitats as long as they match certain requirements (enough precipitation, temperatures not being too extreme).