Author Notes - Oops, a smidge bit late. Blame a minor illness and me realising that I hadn't even finished the 'Other Researcher Notes' segment.
MANDIBLARD FAMILY
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthopoda
Class: Bitelata
Order: Mandithopora
EMILY'S PERSONAL NOTES
Very few species on this planet demonstrate any sort of visible sexual dimorphism, which is a shame since I love checking out details like that. But this family is loaded with them! None of them are quite the same across both sexes, whether it's their appearances or just their roles in the social structure. Heck, the Swarming guys even reverse the typical gender roles in this species! It kinda reminds me of that one species of parrot where the girls are brightly coloured while the boys blend in with their surroundings.
Kinda like my sis Georgia, actually - she's as much as a girl as the rest of us, but she follows more typically masculine roles in every way and she loves it whenever someone confuses her for a boy. But nope! Other than our dad, and Ida's adorable sons I guess, we're all girls here!
The females are typically (though not universally) the weaker of the two, so I thought it would make a good pet. I placed a Female Sheargrub in a cage and named her Gracie. Unfortunately, it turns out that even the females can chew through a cage's bars. And now I have no idea where Gracie is. I really hope she's not eating my food supplies. (1)
PHYSICAL APPEARANCES
Members of the Mandiblard family are easily identified by their tick-like bodies and a lack of any legs or wings. Ancestors of this family once had legs and wings, and the reason behind such a regression in evolution is unknown. It seems likely, however, that the extra limbs were deemed unnecessary to Mandiblard survival and were thus 'phased out' as it were.
The most well-known member of this family is the Himeagea mandibulosa (simply 'Sheargrub'). This species has distinct sexual dimorphism, something otherwise rare in this ecosystem. The males are dark purple with an armoured head, while the females are a very light shade of pink. Male Sheargrubs also have much bigger and more effective mandibles than the females. Their closest relative is the Himeagea turba (Swarming Sheargrub), which resembles a regular female sheargrub but coloured a yellowish-green instead.
Himeagea volaris (Shearwig) also has notable sexual dimorphism. The males are green with sickle-shaped mandibles, and are the only known member of the family to retain functioning wings. The females, however, lack wings and spend their entire life underground. The sole exception to this is the Himeagea turbulens (Queen Sheargrub), an all-female and all-pink mandiblard who is many times bigger than the other members of this family.
Himeagea dentefaber (Speargrub) resembles a turquoise-coloured sea-urchin. Himeagea rotundus (Shearblug) is more caterpillar-like than the other members, having a long segmented body with big compound eyes. Himeagea vineacorruo (Sporegrub) has a brown face on a pink dotted body. It has a series of eight spikes on its back, and six tiny legs. This makes it the only known member of this family to retain their limbs.
HABITAT
Most species in this family live mostly underground all over PNF-404, only emerging to spawn or hunt insects. Regular Sheargrubs are the most plentiful and often-seen of the species, with Shearwigs being rather uncommon and the other ground-dwelling species being much harder to find. Queen Shearwigs spend most of their life under the surface, living in massive holes in the earth.
Swarming Sheargrubs are the only species that spends their entire lives above the surface, never going underground and living up in trees instead, albeit only if they are female. Sporebugs are much like a reverse of the Sheargrubs, preferring to live in trees and only go underground when it is time to spawn.
Speargrubs are unique in this family in that they are the only aquatic member, living strictly in lakes and ponds. It prefers to reside in underground bodies of water, but can be found in surface water as well.
DIET AND DEFENCES
Members of this family are carnivorous, though whether they are active hunters or scavengers depends on the species and even sex. Typically, a Mandiblard will chomp its prey with its strong jaws to cut them in half, before consuming the fluids and eating the remaining body like an opened chocolate egg. Female Sheargrubs and Shearwigs lack strong jaws, and thus will scavenge by consuming the congealed body fluids from carrion. A Queen Shearwig is capable of defending and hunting for herself, but prefers sending out a drove of males to attack for her.
Shearwigs do not use their wings for hunting, preferring to hunt on the ground like their wingless cousins, but will use them to escape predators. These wings do not sustain flight for long, but it is usually enough for the Shearwig to escape. Speargrubs throw themselves at their prey to stab them with their spines, and Shearblug will roll into a ball and protrude spikes from its back. Sporegrubs do not use their spines as they are only for attracting mates, and instead attack by spraying out spores that form a poisonous cloud.
Swarming Sheargrubs are the only members of this family that are not carnivorous, due to their jaws being too small and weak to hunt for prey. They crawl around the ground at high speeds and hunt down nectar and fruits to drink from instead. If one member of this group goes down, the others will flee at even higher speeds.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
In most species of Mandiblard, the males do all the hunting while the females spend most of their life underground. Female Sheargrubs will occasionally emerge to the surface, but female Shearwigs are only ever seen when it is time to spawn.
Shearwigs are much like bees, in that they all follow the command of their queen. The only difference is that the drones and workers are combined into the same role, fulfilled by the males.
Swarming Sheargrubs are the only species in the Mandiblard family with the typical gender roles reversed. For this species, the males spend most of their life underground while the females stay above ground their whole lives in search of food.
COURTING AND CHILDREARING
It's easy to tell when it is time for the Mandiblards to breed when even the females emerge from the ground in the dozens. This is the only time when female Shearwigs, other than the Queen, will ever show themselves.
For most species, they will emerge to the surface - or hide away in dark trenches, in the case of Shearblugs - to find more members of their species, upon which they will all mate together in a gigantic horde. Once this is done, the females will burrow underground once again to lay her eggs while the males remain on the surface to keep possible threats away. The hatching larvae will grow and mature underground, though female Shearwigs will never metamorphose.
Some species vary in this approach slightly. Swarming Sheargrubs lay their eggs on the underside of low-hanging leaves and grasses, and it is the males who take care of them while the females go out to gather food. A Queen Shearwig will hardly ever mate with her drones or workers, and it is for the sole purpose of creating more Queens that will take her place once she dies or is killed in battle. Shearblugs lay their eggs at the bottom of dark underwater holes, while Sporegrubs also lay their eggs under leaves.
OTHER NOTES
With the obvious exception of the Speargrubs, members of this family do very poorly in water. They will attempt to stay away from liquids at all costs, but will drown exceedingly quickly if they are submerged. This makes the aquatic Speargrub a rather baffling evolution.
While Mandiblards consume primarily meat, they are capable of consuming fruit if there is no other food around. This keeps them alive but rather lethargic, for the plant matter does not give them all the nutrients they need.
NOTES FROM OTHER RESEARCHERS
Male Sheargrub -
Those jaws are stronger than you'd expect! I haven't seen anything that can grip like that outside of factory robots. Fortunately, its back isn't so tough. If you can arc a few Pikmin onto it from above, it'll go down in no time. - Alph
I don't get these creatures. They have a good thing going underground, where it's dark and quiet. Why can't they snooze the days away instead of making trouble for us? - Brittany
These nasties are the number-one reason I keep my whistle handy at all times. You've got to have a quick whistle finger to lead your squad to safety when you feel the ground start to rumble beneath your feet! Keep a close eye on any Pikmin with their hands full. These critters like to go after those first. - Captain Charlie
Female Sheargrub -
It takes no time at all for them to emerge from their hiding places underground. They don't do much once they've surfaced, but you have to give them credit for being very efficient borers. - Alph (Emily's notes - I guess you could say they're kinda boring. … Yeah, I'm not funny.)
Have you ever had a friend who startled you every time they approached? Who always seemed to come out of nowhere and scare you? That's what these remind me of. They don't mean any harm, but I jump 10 feet whenever they show up. - Brittany
The ability to hide underground and burst up to the surface whenever someone comes near, then retreat to recover again, just isn't fair. They'd be fearsome ambushers if they ever… you know… attacked. - Captain Charlie
Swarming Sheargrub-
They use their numbers to hunt for fruit and nectar and try to get you separated from your Pikmin. We have to remember that we need numbers on our side too if we want to fight back! - Alph
I can forgive a lot of things in the animals on this planet. Damaging my suit, sure. Capturing the captain, OK. But stealing fruit and nectar from the Pikmin?! That's low! - Brittany
One way to defeat an enemy is to cut off their supply lines. That's the mode of attack these flying things use. They suck up nectar, weigh down pellets, and do whatever they can to keep our numbers low and our troops starved. - Captain Charlie
Speargrub -
Sharp spines are not very common in this ecosystem, so this model stands out a little! They're so sharp that Pikmin will die the moment they touch them, being skewed like a kebab. Now that I think about it, I'm kinda glad spikes aren't common… - Alph
Hey, can you - OW - tell me how to - OW - remove spikes from - OW - my…? Actually, you don't - OW - need to know where the - OW - spikes are. All you need to know is that they hurt, and I need them gone! - Brittany
This soldier seems to be taking 'the best defence is a good offence' a little too literally. Its defensive capabilities ARE offence. And painful. That isn't to say it isn't effective, though. On the contrary, it's a little TOO effective. - Captain Charlie
Sporegrub -
It's quite common for animals to store poison within their bodies to deter predators, but it's rare that I'll see one that SPEWS poison. Only White Pikmin can handle it, and the research I've managed to do on the poison clouds reveal them to be absurdly toxic! Thank goodness for the spacesuits… - Alph
I have never been more thankful for the filtered spacesuits than I am after meeting this critter. There's too many things on this planet that stink as it is, and I can't imagine what it would be like to smell THIS bug's gases! - Brittany
My crewmates act like using poisonous gas as a weapon is so new. It seems like their history lessons have spared them from the more gruesome parts of war. Fortunately, this guy is just trying to defend itself from powerful predators. I can't get mad at it for that. - Captain Charlie
Shearglub -
Another aquatic version of a previously-established model that lived on dry land. Rare, but not too uncommon on this planet. They all have one thing in common, though: they seem to exist just to make the lives of Blue Pikmin worse. - Alph
The way this creature rolls into a spiky ball to attack reminds me of something. Something… blue. What is it? It's on the tip of my tongue! … Don't know it. - Brittany
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water… suddenly, a spiky underwater worm that'll pierce you to death! Don't trust its harmless appearance. If you dare underestimate it, you'll get a spike to the behind! - Captain Charlie
Shearwig-
It seems odd for a flying creature to make its home underground, but that's what these insects do. When they sense motion, they surface and take to the air immediately, then attack from above. - Alph
It doesn't look like it can fly, possibly because it spends all its time under the earth. Maybe all it needs is to cut back on its diet and exercise more. Wait, what am I saying? I can't ask it to do something I wouldn't. - Brittany
"Oh, a flying bug! I'll send some flying Pikmin after it!" Rookie mistake! I can see why you'd think that, but the best Pikmin for the job is a Rock Pikmin. These bugs are so lightly armoured that one hit can take them out. I could even use my steely fists, but that would just be overkill. - Captain Charlie
Queen Shearwig -
Everything about this model makes sense… for the most part. Big size? Got it. Wings? Of course! Pink? … Why is it pink?! The other Shearwigs are green, so why is this one PINK? How did it evolve to have such a bright and blaring colour? - Alph
Now this is my kind of bug! Look at that gorgeous pink. And she even pushes around a bunch of little green guys. THAT is a freakin' dream come true. If only I was a Queen Shearwig… wait, then I'd have to eat bugs. That's a deal-breaker. - Brittany
Living proof that women are just as capable of being great leaders as men are. In case that wasn't already obvious. Brittany, meanwhile, is proof that they're also just as capable at being unhelpful. … DON'T TELL HER I SAID THAT! - Captain Charlie
(1) She ate my food supplies. ... Welp, time to go out and do some hunting.
Author Notes - All around, a very big and fascinating little family. The Swarming Sheargrubs reversing the gender roles in a reference to how they use the female Sheargrub model, which Sophisticated Sableye's Piklopedia 2 ran with.
Next entry is a little bit easier: just the Mitites! ... Hey, anyone else getting the urge to eat them so they can fertilise my eggs?
