I don't own Fallout

AN: Get out your bug-sprays, folks.

Insects

They're creepy, they're crawly and most of them are larger than your head. From the meek Radroach to the Corvega-sized Radscorpions, these insectoid mutants are some of the most diverse and exotic pests you'll find in Post-War America. (Please note: While most of the subjects in this chapter are Insects, some - such as Radscorpions and Bloodworms - are technically not, but have been put here for sake of convenience.)

Radroaches

Starting off with the basics, the Radroach is more an annoyance than an actual threat. Descended from the household Cockroach and found in abandoned buildings and junkyards, they scavenge off anything they can find, from carrion and dead plants to sewage and industrial wastes. Radroaches make their nests in dark moist places, such as abandoned vaults, sewers and metro systems. While Radroaches are far from dangerous, they carry diseases and possess a radioactive saliva.

When threatened they flap their wings (yes, they have wings, but can't fly) and will leap at potential predators. Unlike their larger cousins; the Cave Crickets, their exoskeletons aren't particularly sturdy and like their miniature ancestors, they can be easily killed by being stomped on. They're biggest advantage is numbers, as Radroach nests will house up to 15 members.

Fireflies

Commonly found in forests and swamps around the East Coast, the Firefly has grown to the size of the average bird. Far from aggressive, the Firefly should act as more of a warning than a threat as they're common prey for larger animals such as Gulpers and Radtoads. The abdomen is filled with a natural bioluminescent fluid, making them easy to spot in the darkness.

Ticks

In the past 200 years, the minute Deer Ticks (Ixodes Scapularis) have grown to similar sizes to the Radroach. Living in groups of two to three, these parasitic Insects aren't particularly dangerous. Like the Bloodbug, they feed on the blood of their prey, but can easily be put down by a few shots from a low-caliber handgun.

Bloatflies

Descended from the common Horse Fly (Tabinidae), the Bloatfly is a scavenging insect found throughout the Wasteland. Recognizable due to their blue and brown carapace, Bloatflies live in groups of three to four and make their next in warm-moist environments; from swampy cabins to pools of irradiated water. Having grown to the size of a housecat, the Bloatfly makes up in tenaciousness what it lacks in its ancestor's agility.

The Bloatfly has evolved to use its engorged stinger to weaponize its pupae to incapacitate prey. Pupae, for those of you who don't know, is newborn larvae's bite possesses a neurotoxic venom. While deadly to smaller animals, it is ineffective against larger animals such as Brahmin or humans causing only mild necrosis around the infected area. This attack not only incapacitates potential prey, but the larvae will incubate within the carcass until they mature to adulthood. When that happens, the fully-grown Bloatflies will burst from the victim's corpse.

The Bloatfly has mutated to possess a unique gland that helps it achieve aviation, not unlike the float-sac of a Floater. While this gland is unfit for consumption, the rest of the Bloatfly is edible, if far from appetizing. The gland also has a habit of bursting explosively if ruptured, blowing up the Bloatfly as well.

Boom Bugs

From one exploding insect to another, the Boom Bug is found throughout the Midwest. A descendant of the common Ladybug, a subspecies of Beetle known for their red and white polka-dotted carapace. Near identical to their ancestors -save for the fact they're the size of a fairly large rock - The Boom Bug has mutated to have a highly combustible physiology. To the point that they explode when they're killed, or startled, or angry, or happy, or sad, or horny and so on and so forth. And they especially blow up when thrown from the hand like a grenade. I specify this because certain Tribes - particularly the mutated 'Beast Lords' - are known to use Boom Bugs as thrown explosives.

Floater

A species of Flatworm that has been exposed to the Forced Evolutionary Virus. See 'Other FEV Creatures' page for more details.

Mantises

Found throughout New California and the Mid-West, these mutated European Praying Mantises (Mantis Religiosa) range from rat-sized pests to dangerous predators the size of an adult human. Found in caves and abandoned buildings, most mantises are easily disposable, usually simply by crushing them underfoot. However, there are larger and far more aggressive species found in the ruins of Great Salt Lake and Zion Canyon. These species are usually hunted for food by local tribals like The Sorrows and Dead Horses.

These Mantises breed quickly and live-in swarms large enough to 'cover Great Salt Lake', if you believe the rumors. Mantises attack by striking their enemies with their serrated forelegs, referred to as 'Raptorial Legs'. Tribals and Raiders will occasionally craft these forelegs into make-shift gauntlets.

Bloodbugs

Descended from the humble, if annoying, Marsh Mosquitoes (Aedes Sollicitans) these vampiric arthropods have mutated into dog-sized bloodsuckers. Often found in groups of two to five, the Bloodbug gets its name from the fact they feed on the nutrients found in blood from corpses and living beings. When not inhabiting environments such as lakes or marshes, they'll be found around recently killed animals such as Brahmin or Radstags. They've also been known to inhabit medical buildings and vehicles, drawn by the scent of ruptured blood bags.

From proboscis to abdomen, the Bloodbug is two feet in length. Their carapace ranges from bright red to a deep muddy brown. They possess six long double-jointed limbs, a pair of long veined wings, two compound eyes and a syringe-like proboscis used to pierce flesh and drain blood. While normally agile, a recently fed Bloodbug will move sluggishly due to the increased weight of their distended blood-filled abdomen.

While they may not seem threatening due to their skeletal bodies, Bloodbugs are extremely fast and agile. They will repeatedly pierce threats with their proboscis until they die of blood loss. If overwhelmed, they will land onto their enemy's torso and drain their blood before spitting the now irradiated blood into their eyes and fleeing.

Stingwings

A distant relative of the Bloatfly, the Stingwing is a flying insect found in the forest and mires of the East Coast. The Stingwings are mutated Scorpionflies, three feet from mouth to sting and their segmented bodies are covered in a blue and orange exoskeleton. Swift and agile hunters, the Stingwings fly rapidly, carried by four thin wings. It defends itself and hunts prey by rapidly stinging them with a venomous barb on its tail.

Stingwings are often found in swarms of three to five, inhabiting nest formed from resin and grass, held together by a natural wax. These nests are usually found in abandoned buildings, on cliff faces, or under ruined highways.

Blood Worms

Originally an aquatic species of worm, the Blood Worms have steadily transitioned into more terrestrial mutants in the past 200 years. Now inhabiting dry and arid areas on the East Coast, the Bloodworm continues to thrive despite the total environment shift. They have inherited their ancestor's burrowing ability, only now they use their four hollow jaws to dig through earth and rock rather than sand and mud.

Four to five feet in length, the Bloodworm has mutated to possess rows of sensitive spines lining their serpentine body. Like Mole Rats, Blood Worms travel underground in large groups of four to six. They use their spines to sense vibrations in the earth, alerting them to potential prey. They'll then rapidly burst to the surface, ambushing their prey in a flurry of serrated jaws. These rush tactics allow them to take down larger prey such as Brahmin and humans.

Cave Crickets

Often found in grasslands and gulches, the Cave Cricket is an agile and acrobatic predator. The size of a large dog, the Cave Cricket is easily identified due to its dusty brown carapace, enlarged hindlegs and distinctive horn. Living in groups of three or four members, Cave Crickets use their powerful posterior legs to leap great distances in short amounts of time. The past two centuries has seen the Cave Cricket become omnivorous, feeding on plant matter and fresh meat alike.

When hunting, the Cave Cricket uses its serrated mandibles and enlarged forehead horn to kill its prey. You'll likely hear a Cave Cricket before you see it, as they use the chirping sound their hindlegs make when rubbed against one another to call out to potential mates.

Giant Wasp

Descended from the Yellow Jacket Wasp (Vespula Vulgaris), the Giant Wasp of the Midwest have grown to the size of a large dog. Distinguished by their striking yellow and black carapace, the Giant Wasp is an agile and fearsome Insect. Like their cousin - the Cazador - Giant Wasp live in colonies of 5-10 members and inhabit papery hives made from grass and resin bound to cliff faces and under bridges. Giant Wasps use their razor-sharp stingers to defend their nests and hunt prey. Unlike Bees, Wasps are capable of using their sting multiple times.

Bees and Honey Beasts

The humble Honey Bee continues to thrive in the forests of Post-War America. The Honey Bee has, for the most part, suffered few mutations. They continue to build hives from hexagon-shaped combs made from a natural wax the bees secrete. These combs are used to store food and house eggs and larvae. Bees harvest nectar from flowers and this nectar is turned into honey, which the bees eat during winter when there are fewer flowers to harvest nectar from. The sugary syrup is a delectable food and ingredient and is often sought out by both humans and Yao Guai.

However, while the bees are mostly un-mutated, they're still quite dangerous and territorial. If their hive is disturbed, they will attack in a massive swarm, using their natural stingers to chase off intruders. If you've angered a bee hive, the best thing to do is run until they give up the chase as they'll not want to leave the hive undefended for too long, but be sure to cover your face as you do. NEVER jump into a body of water, as not only is it probably irradiated, the bees will wait for you to come out to the surface.

Bees live in highly organized societies, not unlike Ants. There are the Worker Bees, made up of females who lack reproductive organs. Their job is to tend to the hive, gather food, make honey and ward off predators. The male Drones lack stingers and never leave the hive, their job is to tend to the Queen who lays the eggs for the hive. Unlike other Bees, the Queen is the only female who can reproduce and feeds on royal jelly. Royal jelly is a special nutritious secretion that is used to feed larvae until they reach adulthood.

If a Queen becomes too old, diseased, or is otherwise unable to fill her role, a Worker will be chosen to potentially replace her. This candidate will be moved to special 'nursery' combs and continually fed royal jelly by 'Nurse Drones' until she is able to take on the Queen's mantle.

However, on the matter of Queens, there's an offshoot that needs to be discussed. Occasionally, some Queens will have mutated and severely at that, even by the normal standards for most Insects. These Queens are far, far larger than their subjects, almost being as large as a Brahmin and have developed a more carnivorous diet. Instead of living inside the hive, they carry the hive on their backs. These mutated Queens have been dubbed 'Honey Beasts' by Wastelanders. These Honey Beasts are incredibly aggressive, charging threats to the hive and ripping into them with their serrated mandibles and even having their Workers swarm and sting their enemies. While they still have wings, they're far too small to carry the Queen's bloated body and are instead used as an intimidation factor, not unlike Radroaches. When a Honey Beast is close to death, she'll find a suitable spot to die, leaving the hive to grow and continue to thrive as her corpse decays. The hive will then go through the 'normal' process of having a Worker become a Queen.

Ants

An industrious species of Insect, the ant has a curious history in Post-War America. These arthropods were originally hardly bigger than a thumbtack, now most species are the size of a house cat, if not larger. Burrowing animals, they live in large underground nests and will even take over ruined metro tunnels. These nests are tended to the by workers and guarded by the warriors. Both classes are mostly female, as the males are busy tending to the Queen and her 'needs'. Ant Warriors and Scavengers attack with powerful mandibles and they'll drag their kills back to their nest and the remains will be mixed with dead plant matter to feed newborn larvae.

The Ant Queen is usually bigger than a bus and possesses wing. She spends her life laying eggs, breeding up a new generation every few hours. You wipe out the nest, but never find the Queen, by the next month it'll be life you never even showed up. Her 'Praetorian Guards' are usually made up of the largest and toughest of the warriors and are extremely territorial, even by ant standards. However, this does not mean the Queen herself is not a threat as, not unlike Mirelurk Queens, she has acidic spit.

In the Capital Wasteland; in a failed attempt to return ants to their Pre-War size, an ant nest was exposed to FEV, allowing them to breath fire…somehow. Fire Ants indeed. These ants proceeded to wipe out the settlement of Grayditch and build a nest in the Marigold Metro tunnels. The nest was eventually wiped out by The Lone Wanderer from Vault 101, the only survivor was a boy named Bryan Wilks. Oddly enough there is a population of Fire Ants in the Mojave Wasteland, implying they were exposed to FEV as well.

Ants possess incredible strength, being able to lift 50 times their body weight. This, combined with their razor-like mandibles, make them deadly combatants. A weakness, however, is their sensitive antennae. If damaged, the ant will frenzy and attack anything insight, even other ants. They can also be killed with a powerful sonic frequency. This weakness to Sonic emitters was exploited by the Boomer Tribals at Nellis Airforce Base and the Ciphers at Mesa Verde in Colorado.

Cazador

A heavily mutated Tarantula Hawk Wasp found in the Mojave Wasteland and Zion Canyon. See 'Other Abominations' page for more details.

Radscorpions

From Shady Sands to Arefu, Goodsprings and Sanctuary, the Radscorpion is one of, if not the, most widespread species of mutated Insect. Most common Radscorpions are the mutated descendants of the Emperor Scorpion (Pandinus Imperator) that were common in nearly every pet store in the Back-When times, though some sub-species do exist.

Radscorpion species all share common traits that make them easily identifiable and very deadly. Their segmented triangular bodies are carried by two rows of six double jointed legs, multiple eyes, two forelimbs equipped with powerful claws. The most distinguishing feature is a curved tail raised high above their bodies, tipped with a venomous stinger. Radscorpion venom is highly potent, but not untreatable. Like the Cazador and Nightstalker, its venom glands can be harvested to synthesize an Anti-Venom, though acquiring a gland is extremely difficult as they can only be harvested from a fully matured adult.

Radscorpions make their homes in dry arid areas across the Wasteland and often inhabit natural caves or self-made burrows. Most Radscorpions are able to travel underground before bursting to the surface, making them proficient ambush hunters. This does not mean, however, that they never take a more direct approach. Indeed, Radscorpions will sometimes rush prey and sting them rapidly to death. Despite their strength, Radscorpions rarely use their claws for offense, instead preferring to use them to hold prey up to their mouths or to keep them still long enough to inject venom into their bodies.

Variants of Radscorpion

Common

The Common Radscorpion is usually the size of a Brahmin or so and its exoskeleton ranges from a blueish gray to a reddish brown. It is worth noting that despite claims to the contrary, dog-sized Radscorpions are not a separate breed, but rather adolescents.

Giant Radscorpion

The Giant Radscorpion is a Corvega-sized subspecies of the mutated Emperor Scorpions who possess a far more potent venom and are usually encountered in pairs. Thankfully, they're quite rare.

Radscorpions Queen

A rare female Radscorpion that dwarfs even her largest of kin. She is usually found deep within certain nests and rarely if ever leaves. Queens are mostly encountered in the West Coast, where Radscorpions are far more social than their more isolationist Eastern brethren.

Bark Scorpions

Descended from the desert-native Striped Bark Scorpion (Centruroides Vittatus), the Bark Scorpion is far smaller than its Emperor cousin. Usually around the size of a fairly large dog, the Bark Scorpion is easily identified due to its musty-brown carapace.

Insects Trivia

Tribals are known to use Radroach innards for treating radiation poisoning.

It was once believed that Cockroaches were immune to radiation, this is not quite the case, though they are less susceptible than the average human.

The Cult of The Mothman is known to use the bioluminescent innards of Fireflies to try to summon the Mothman.

While most species of Mantises are the descendants of ones exposed to radiation when the bombs fell, this is not the case for the Mantises that inhabit the Mojave Wasteland. Mojave Mantises instead originate from experiments conducted in Vault 22.

A swarm of Bloodbugs are capable of carrying off an entire Brahmin or draining an adult human completely of their blood.

Despite what one might assume, Scorpionflies did not actually have stingers Pre-War, the name originates from the tail of the Scorpionfly which resembled a that of a Scorpions'. Oddly enough, only male Scorpionflies had this tail.

Bloodworms are known to burrow into the corpses of recent kills and burst out in an explosion of gore and viscera when startled.

Unlike other Insects, Bees can not repeatedly use their stinger. The stinger is deeply imbedded in the Bee's body and will pull out part of the Bee's digestive tract after use causing the Bee to die from the abdominal rupture.

Pre-War crickets did not possess their descendants' distinctive horn, implying it has been a relatively recent mutation.

A subspecies of Ant has evolved to leave their nest entirely and travel the Wasteland is swarms, thankfully they're the same size as their non-mutated ancestors.

Radscorpions are not only immune to their own venom, but are capable of controlling how much venom is injected into their prey's bloodstream at a time.

In the town of Gecko, there was once a scientist who claimed to have raised an intelligent talking Radscorpion who was capable of playing chess. The Scientist later claimed that the Radscorpion was killed by a 'sore-loser of a tribal in a vault suit and his traitorous spore plant'. Coincidentally, this was also around the same time Jet was getting popular in New California.

AN: I'm going to have to be real with you guys for a moment. Recently someone (and I'm not naming names) left some less than polite comments on this fic about another author whose stories I left reviews on. Listen, I don't want any part of any f*cked up bloodfeud going on, I just write stupid stories about stuff I like. So please, keep any harmful comments to yourself and if you see a comment like it, don't respond and I'll have it taken down if I can. Next chapter coming out after the next update on The Second Dragon War. Keep fighting the good fight, folks. - Bones