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| INSECTS Ant: There is a particular variety of ants referred to as the marchers, that inhabit the rainforests near Schendi. This is a huge mass of black ants that move through the jungles, usually forming a column that is about a yard wide but that could be pasangs in length. The column widens only when food is found and may then spread up to five hundred feet wide. To cross small streams, the ants will make a bridge of themselves. During a rain, they will separate and seek shelter, reforming after the rains stop. A knowledgeable individual could guide the marchers on a specific path. The bite of these ants is extremely painful but not poisonous. Bee: Honeybees are domestically raised for their honey. Though the books only depicted an instance of such breeding in Torvaldsland, the wide availability of honey throughout Gor seems to support bee keeping in many other regions. Beetle: One variety of beetle known to exist on Gor is the marsh beetle. Centipede Flies: There are many types of Gor including sand flies, arctic flies, and sting flies. Sand flies live in the Tahari and appear after the rains. The flies in the arctic are black and long-winged. Sting flies, also known as needle flies in the southern regions, usually live in deltas and similar wet areas. They generally lay their eggs on the stems of rence plants. They tend to be attracted to eyes and cause a painful sting. Several stings can cause nausea and a swelling that will go away after a few Ahn. But, in great numbers they can kill. The hatching time is the most dangerous period and last for four to five days. Luckily, that season is predictable so can be easily avoided. Gitches: These are insects that cause a painful bite. Some can grow quitelarge Golden Beetle: One of the most unique and dangerous creatures in the Nest is the Golden Beetle, that lives in the unlit caverns beneath the Sardar caves of the Priest-Kings. This is an insect the size of a rhinoceros. Its back seems divided into two thick casings which once long ago might have been horny wings but which have fused into a thick, immobile golden shell. It has glowing eyes and its head can almost withdraw beneath the shell. It can still use its jaws when its head is beneath the shell. It has two multiply-hooked, hollow, pincerlike extensions that meet at the tips about a yard beyond its body. These suck a creature's fluids out. Its antennae are very short, curved and topped with a fluff of golden hair. There are also several long, golden strands that extend from its head over its domed back and fall almost to the floor behind it. Its bite has a paralytic venom. It hisses and can move fast but only for a brief time. Its greatest weapon is that it exudes an odor, somewhat oppressive, that induces sleep in people nearby. This is even effective on Priest-Kings. Its primary food is Priest-Kings. It lays its eggs, each about the size of a fist, in a host. The egg has leathery shell and the baby is the size of a child's turtle. The host will not die if the eggs are removed before they hatch. Grasshopper: In the rainforests, there is a red grasshopper that weighs about four ounces in weight. Hinti: These are small, flea like insects though they are not parasites. Leech: A salt leech is one type of known leech. A marsh leech is another. A marsh leech is about four inches long and half an inch thick. If a leech is stuck on you, burning it or placing salt on it will cause it to let go. Lice: Lice vary in size from very tiny to the size of marbles. The larger variety infest tarns so tarnsman must remove them. When they remove them, they might feed them to the tarn. Lice can be dangerous though as they transmit the pox. Rennels: These are crablike desert insects with a poisonous bite though it is not too lethal. They leave little red bites. Roach: This is commonly an oblong, flat-bodied black creature about half a hort long. It has long feelers and is basically harmless. Scorpions Slime Worm: This is a long, whitish, wormlike animal that resides in the Sardar. It is eyeless and has a small, red mouth on the underside of its body. It inches its way along, hugging the angle between the wall and floor. It once functioned as a sewerage device but it has not done so for thousands of years. It now scavenges on the kills of the Golden Beetle. Snails Spiders: One unique type of spider on Gor is the rock spider. They are usually brown or black and when they fold their legs beneath them, they look almost like a rock. Rock spiders can be huge, almost eight feet thick. They live in the rainforests. Cell spiders are tiny creatures. Termites: They are also called white ants. |