While few of our readers may recognize this insect by name alone, I’m bettin’ we’ve all seen them around our homes.  The Assassin bug is something that I’ve been particularly interested in for some time now.  At first my fascination came from the name alone, I mean seriously, anything with ‘assassin’ in its name has to be pretty freakin’ cool.  Well this insect sure lives up to the expectations set by it’s namesake, and I can’t wait to find a way to include him in the story!

The Vile Assassin

The Assassin bug gets its name from the way it stalks its prey; pouncing on the unsuspecting victim and impaling it with a needle-like snout.  Sound pretty nasty? Well it gets better!  After piercing the victim’s body, the Assassin bug injects it with a venom that liquefies the poor bug’s insides.  What’s left is a tasty protein shake that the Assassin is happy to slurp up through it’s needle nose.

That’s the assassin bug that I’ve grown to appreciate.  But thanks to my cousin Racquel I’ve have been further educated in the vile nature of these hardcore bug assailants.

Certain types of Assassin bugs are known for decorating their bodies with the hollow carcasses of their victims.  They do this for a couple reasons (I was surprised to learn that ‘looking wicked awesome’ was NOT one of the reasons), the most obvious of which being that by building a mound of bodies on their backs the assassins will look exponentially larger than usual.  This can dissuade any would be attackers.  Furthermore, if a large enough creature decided that the assassin looked like a tasty treat, the body part parka can be ditched to make for a quick escape!

I still think that looking wicked awesome should be the main reason for engaging in this type of behaviour, and with that thought in mind I started working on this rendition of our not-so-friendly neighbourhood Assassin bug!

We’ve all seen them darting through the sky, or hovering in place.  They are stealthy predators amongst insects, yet so beautifully whimsical to watch.  They are the Dragonflies, and if I’ve learned anything it’s that anything with ‘dragon’ in it’s name is bound to be awesome!  I love to see these insects in person and after reading more about them they became the obvious candidate for our next CREATURE CREATION.

The Odonata

(Taken from their scientific classifcation)

The Odonata prefer to live around shallow waters, or marshy areas.  In order to use them in The Underground they’ll be found beyond the borders of the Mainlands (meaning they’ll be outside of the ‘backyard’).  There can be seen flying swiftly just above the water’s surface, in search of prey.  Maybe that’s where they get their name from, they certainly behave like mythological dragons.  I”m sure the other insect inhabitants would view them that way as well…if only they could breath fire!

The smallest family of North American Dragonflies I could find information on is the Banded Pennant, measuring in with a length of 38 millimetres.  While many other families show a length more than twice that size, we felt that this smaller group would be easier to utilize in the story.  Not to say that we won’t introduce a much larger, devastating cousin to the Pennants later on.  In our research we found that evidence of prehistoric Dragonflies with wingspans measuring more than 30cm has been recorded!  Sounds like that one would be a predator of the Man-Beasts rather than the insects.

And speaking of predator and prey, the Odonata doesn’t seem to be too picky when it comes to its diet.  They have been introduced into different environments in order to control mosquito populations.  We have plans to use mosquitoes as an airborne-mount for another insect species, introducing the Odonata as a natural predator to these riders will make for some awesome inflight battles.  Beyond the mosquitoes though, they will also prey on ants, bees, aquatic larva, and just about any other insect they can wrap their spiky legs around.

Even the dragonfly larva are vicious hunters.  They use their retractable lower jaws to grab their food, and pull them back into their waiting mouths.  With all this great imagery, it’s really hard NOT to find a place to fit this species into our story!

The creation of the mosquito is an absolute must in The Underground universe.  They are an easily recognized pest, and they are very common throughout the world.  But what purpose do these blood-suckers serve in the story?  How do they impact our carefully crafted world, and how will they influence this constantly evolving epic? There’s only one way to get to the bottom of it all, and that is today’s CREATURE CREATION!!!

Enter The Culix

(Taken from the family classification ‘Culicidae’)

The point that stands out the most to us about the mosquito is its preferred food type…blood.  Whether it is humans (Man-beasts), dogs, deer, or horses this scrawny insect doesnt care.  They are one of the few creatures who prey on creatures that could easily kill them; which leads us to believe that they are not very smart.  Certainly not intelligent enough to be one of our more ‘sentient’ creatures, and not fearsome enough to be predators.  No.  They will be beasts, pure and simple.

As a species the mosquito does not form colonies, or follow any sort of social structure.  They live with no further purpose other than to feed…to graze.  As nymphs they feed on algae, and bacteria found easily in their water-homes.  Once they reach adulthood, they head out into world in search of bloodmeal.  With no defining social direction here, they are really coming across as simple blood-sucking-cows.  And therein lies their purpose within the Underground.  They engorge themselves on blood, which can then be harvested for use throughout the Underground.  Bloodmeal is also sought out by Assassin bugs, mites, ticks, and fleas, making it a decent commodity if properly gathered.

Physically, the mosquito has a few traits that help further define them for our purposes.  They measure in anywhere from 6.5mm to 16mm, which make them pretty long by comparison.  Their compound eyes, and antennae lined with tiny hairs give them enhanced senses of sorts.  Lastly, their nimble bodies make them quite maneuverable.  Looking at all of these points as a whole, we’ve decided to also use the mosquito as a ‘mount’ of sorts to be ridden by smaller, more daring insects.  Come to think about it, a long needle like ‘nose’ could surely be used as a sort of lance!

That settles it.

Here we have the Mosquito, or the Culix as we will be calling it.  The crazy blood-sucking-cow-horse of The Underground universe!

In 2013 we took a Facebook poll asking our fans and followers what the creepiest bug was.  The results were nothing like we had expected.  As it turns out, the centiped is the most popular choice for creepy critter.  That sounds like just as good a reason as any to ‘create’ the centipede in The Underground universe!

The Dreaded Scoleop

To come up with the insect name for the centipede, we butchered the scientific name of the household centipede; Scutigera Coleoptratta (S.Coleoptratta).  Measuring a healthy 25mm long, the centipede becomes hard to interact with other characters.  When considering our average insect height to be approximately 5.5mm to 6mm, the centipede is an absolute BEAST.  So maybe this creature can be an enemy of some sort…

We’ve all seen centipedes darting out across the basement floor, or lurking in the corner of the bathroom, this is why they were voted the creepiest insect.  It’s behaviour certainly depicts that of a creature you wouldn’t want to cross paths with, like a fabled Wurm from mideval tales.  Just imagine if you were shrunk down to size and met with a giant, snake-like thing with legs…lots and lots of legs.  It’s five times your length with a pair of legs adapted to inject you with paralyzing poison.  Able to reach speeds of 40mm/second, the centipede is the perfect predator.

How though does the terrifying beast fit into our story?  The centipede can be found living in dark, moist places; beneath tree bark, amongst decaying leaves, roots, and piles of wood.  This sets us up nicely to hide one of these critters in the Great Birch.  This tree stump is the home to both Coryn (ant colony), and the Termite Union.  There will be plenty of opportunity for a surprize appearance.   The question is…whose side will the centipede serve?  They’ve been known to feed on spiders, cockroaches, silverfish, and…ants.  That’s sure to spell some level of doom for our heroes!

The Leafcutter Ants in The Underground were created out of necessity.  We were designing Coryn, home of the Hill Ants, and we came to a sub-level in the colony that would house a massive fungus garden.  We wanted the farmers tending to the fungus to look distinctly different from the rest of the Hill Ant inhabitants.  So we went on a search for our next Creature Creation.

The Fungus Farmers

The Leafcutters were actually a really cool species to research.  They are in fact the most complex animal society on Earth.  Individual ants in the colony perform specific functions based on size, and a big portion of their function revolves around the cultivation of fungus.  We have a winner.

The different sizes of the Leafcutters range from a couple millimetres to sixteen millimeters!  The smallest workers, the minims and minors are typically found cleaning the leaves cultivated by the other workers.  The medium-sized workers (The Mediae) measure in around four to five millimetres, putting them right into the average range of heights we’ve seen with the characters in the story so far.  The Mediae will be a little shorter than Styx and his crew, but they’ll make up for it with the Majors.  The Majors are the largest members of the Leafcutter colony, and they are responsible for much of the heavy work.    While the first three castes are reasonably intelligent, we’re thinking the Majors are going to be simple brutes.

The colony feeds on the fungus that thrives on the leaves the colony cuts.  It’s a beautiful relationship on its own, and it will make a natural reason to have them present in within Coryn.  The fungus that they cultivate within the Hill Ant home will yield a profitable amount of food, and no other species in The Underground can tend to the fungus farms as efficiently as the Leafcutters.  This becomes a valuable service, so a strong relationship would naturally be formed between the Hill Ants and their farmer friends.  But in the Underground how strong, or long-lasting is any relationship?