Sapflies
Sapflies are small, colorful insects that feeds on sweet sap that comes from ripe fruits such as mangoes, papayas and the like. When the sapfly feeds on the fruit, it loses some of its juicyness and sweetness, while the sapfly takes on a color similar to that of the fruit. The sapfly metabolizes the sap into a jam-like substance which can be harvested from the bugs, though if one waits until the sapfly naturally secretes it, the substance will become honey-like and be far sweeter, at the cost of there being much less of it.
The sapfly can be found in the
Junkirman'jri jungle in southern
Drissau, but in recent years they can also be found in some of the northern parts of
Ikune where they have been imported by farmers. This has however proven troublesome, as the sapflies generally don't live in colonies and only gather during mating season or in areas that are particularly rich in sweet fruits.
Drumbeetles
Drumbeetles are small beetles that comes in shades of brown and grey. They have hard carapaces and are able to create a rhythmic tapping sound by striking their abdomen against the ground or trees, giving them the name for their almost drum-like sounds despite their small sizes. They generally do this during mating season or as warnings to each other and predators, with the drumbeetle having a reputation for being deafening if enough of them are present.
The drumbeetles are native to the
Ketrikkhaz Archipelago and
Junkirman'jri jungle where they feed on the flora of the jungles. Here they are usually found in small colonies, but due to the effect of their tapping they often form new colonies near each other to ward off predators.
Mistweavers
Appearing as ethereal butterflies, the mistweavers are commonly associated as an omen of death when found outside of graveyards. This is because they are primarily found around grave sites or near the dead, as they feed on flowers that only grow in soil where the dead has been laid to rest. Though some believe they also feed on corpses, this is wrong and they are only attracted to the dead when they have been in an area for long enough that the soil will begin to grow the flowers.
They are native to all of Ikune, but are mainly found in the
Trewkilni Plains and
Kecroshto Forests as they're rich in the flowers after the Veiled Scourge decimated parts of the
Ni'rral Empire. Here, the presence of the mistweavers brings with them an unnatural fog or mist, from which they gain their name. The thickness of this mist depends on how many of the mistweavers are present, with large swarms of them creating a deep fog which is considered a certain omen that one should turn around to avoid falling to what attracted so many of the mistweavers.
Emberflies
A cousin of the firefly, the emberfly likewise glow much like the firefly, though unlike them they use this as an active defense mechanism as they are able to heat up their surroundings enough that they can cause burn injuries and even ignite objects when they are agitated. When they are not agitated however, they tend to be peaceful and provide a warm glow which is often sough out by reptiles and other creatures that inhabit the same places as they do.
Emberflies are generally found in the underground of
Ikune, though some are also near the opening of caves despite being known to be agitated by light other than their own. These emberflies are sometimes sought out by scholars who believe the distinctive glowing spots on their wings are linked to the constellations in the sky and that the time of significant events can be predicted by reading them.
Glowspire
Glowspires are a small, bioluminescent reptiles. They attracts insects through their bioluminescence or through their bioluminescent spit. The spit acts like a sticky sap, which traps any insects that touches it as well as most other creatures that is smaller than the glowspire, though it does little more than irritate things bigger than itself. For this reason, the glowspire is known to hide most of the day, only coming out at night when most of their natural predators are asleep and those that remain take the glow as a warning sign.
They are usually found in forested areas in northern
Ikune and have become a prized pet among those rich enough to afford them, for both their tendency to take care of insects and the difficulty in catching them due to their speed. Despite attempts to do so, there has been no success in raising them in captivity and it is theorized that their mating behavior requires something unique to their environments, though no scholar has yet to find out what it is.
