THE
DERGIMAR
FLY |
The Dergimar Fly lives in various rocky and weedy terrain in the Northern Sarvonian region, really all over, from the areas in and around the Northwestern rivers and lakes, to the Wilshire Heath, to the Stone Fields of Peat. They are a tiny and rather common insect and travel in small swarms and typically feeding on plants and rotting animal carcasses. Their small dark grey bodies and thin, translucent wings make them rather ordinary flies, but they remain an important part of the ecosystem in their environment.
Appearance.
A Dergimar Fly is approximately a nailsbreadth in length. Their bodies are made
up of a head and a thorax-abdomen section., both of which are covered with dark
grey to black scales, though some believe them to actually be flakes. They have
compound eyes, which appear as large bulges on either side of their head.
Dergimars have small mouths that protrude from the bottom of their head. This
mouth is very sucker-like in quality, though they don’t just eat by sucking up.
They have small teeth on the inside of the sucker that they use for tearing up
the things they eat.
The Dergimar Fly has two antennae that stick up from the top of their heads.
These antennae help them to find their way around, and to hear vibrations in the
air. They are small and covered with small hairs, just like the legs protruding
from their body. These flies also have transparent wings that extend over the
length of their body, and despite their thinness, are extremely strong. They are
able to carry the body of the fly over long distances.
Special Abilities.
The Dergimar is a very hardy insect, able to take the extreme temperatures of
the northernmost parts of
Northern Sarvonia
and the ice continent of Cyhalloi. Even after times of extreme colds during
which nearly all of their population is killed, they are able to bounce back
with a boost in reproduction, thus helping to lead to the revival of many other
animals populations, especially those who feed on them, including a variety of
lizards and birds. They are also able to live in many
different regions in
Northern Sarvonia
and Cyhalloi.
Territory.
The Dargimar Fly lives in northern regions, usually in plains and heaths, though
they can be found anywhere there is adequate nutrition for them to survive, so
basically anywhere with good plant to eat. They are found almost anywhere in
Northern Sarvonia
and Cyhalloi, in particular the Wilshire Heath, the Peat Fields and even the
Stone Fields of Peat. Though the flies often live around sources of
water, they don’t seem to need it to
survive. They seem to get all the water
they need from the plants they eat.
Dargimar Flies require obscure areas in which they hide, usually places in or
surrounded by plants. In these places, they lay their eggs such that their
babies, when they emerge from their grey eggs as larvae, will have enough food
to munch on before forming their small puparium and developing finally into a
full-grown fly. They tend to prefer soft grasses and moss for their tasks.
Habitat/Behaviour.
Dargimar Flies live in swarms of anywhere between 20 and 400 individuals. These
swarms act similar to tribes, though they have no real leader. They stick
together for protection against birds, the way shoals of fish travel together
for protection against sharks. These swarms change constantly. Randomly two
smaller swarms will come together, or one large one will split apart, sometimes
into multiple smaller sections. It is yet unknown why swarms split up. Most
flies will mate those of their own swarm, but do not differentiate between those
of different swarms.
Though Dargimar flies are active all times of the year, including the winter,
they tend to be more sluggish in the winter. They typically stay around one
small area, usually about a dash in diameter, though they may migrate a bit if
their supplies run out. During the summer, they make large migration patterns,
eating more quickly, though never leaving an area completely empty. They leave
an area to avoid predators for flocking to their general location and wiping
them out.
Diet.
Dargimar Flies usually eat plants, more specifically grasses and moss. Studies
have found that these flies find most other plants too tough for their digestive
system, or perhaps too dry. It may just be that they don’t like the taste of
most leaves, save those of grass. Theories go on to say that perhaps the juices
in the leaves are poison to the fly. For one reason or another, grasses and
mosses are the only kinds of plants that they eat, though in rare occasions of
such things being less readily available, they can move on to some kinds of
algae, even moist bark.
Plants, however, aren’t the only thing they eat. They have also been found
dining on the rotten flesh, organs, and meat of carcasses. They do not eat or
attack living animals, whose meat is still fresh. They prefer rotten meat and
organs that has been tenderized by time and is gentler on their stomach. Because
they prefer food of this kind, they are usually the last to dine on a dead
animals, and are seen as the ones to clean up the carcass and leave only the fur
and bones.
Mating.
Mating typically occurs in mid to late summer, while things are still warm.
During approximately a three-week period, the flies furiously mate. It is
unknown whether the male or female initiates the mating process, but most
researchers believe that both genders try to mate with as many flies as possible
while the swarm or swarms are still in heat.
During the mating process, the male typically boards the female and they remain
connected for about 10 minutes, though it has been recorded of these flies
staying together for several hours. In this three-week period, congregations of
swarms will meet together, seeking out more mates, and thus cause giant swarms
that tend to be something of a feast for hungry predators.
Approximately a week and half after this process, the female fly will lay her
nearly 100 eggs, usually in thickly grassed areas, or places sheltered from the
cold. Many flies hide their eggs in mossy areas, sometimes in dense thickets of
grass. These eggs are very small, usually only a few grains in diameter, and are
colored a dull brown, which helps them to camouflage themselves in their
habitat. The flies will lead their children typically, moving to another area as
not to disturb the food source of their young, and to find an area to hide from
the cold.
In early to mid spring, as the air grows warmer, the eggs hatch into tiny
worm-like caterpillars that hungrily munch up their food sources. These brownish
white larvae are usually about half the size of their parents, and far thinner.
It is often a harsh race for these young. There is rarely enough food in their
small area to sustain them, and if a larva doesn’t keep up with his or her
brothers and sisters, Queprur won’t be
slow to fall on it. Of the nearly 100 eggs, only about 65% will hatch. The
remaining larvae eat up the unhatched eggs to help them sustain themselves.
Likewise, if a larva dies, his siblings may eat him up.
For the rest of spring, the larva will eat, doubling in size. In the beginning
of summer, the larvae build their puparium out of a sticky mucus secreted from
their skin. It surrounds them, and for over a month they will grow within this
brown-colored casing. The pupa, within its shell, goes through a transformation,
and in mid-summer, will break from their puparium as a adult fly. After a few
moments to dry their wings, they will head off to join a swarm.
The fly will mate the following year, and Dergimar flies typically live between
four and five years.
Researchers.
The fly gains its name from a Remusian
researcher named Eldrey Dergimar who was said to have studied the fly long ago
in the Age of Myths, though none know if it is true. In an
orcish raid, it is said that the majority of his
research was destroyed or lost. Most of the information known about the fly
today comes from the Remusian
researcher Derkier Gelbin (1124-1166 a.S.) who did in depth studies on the fly
for 26 years. He died after journeying too far into the Stone Fields of Peat and
could not make his way back.
Information provided by
Rayne Avalotus
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