Crowned Vermentie
| Crowned Vermentie | ||
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| (Arachnovaranus arborealis) | ||
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| Information | ||
| Creator | OviraptorFan Other | |
| Week/Generation | 27/167 | |
| Habitat | Barlowe Tropical Rainforest, Barlowe Subtropical Rainforest, Barlowe Temperate Rainforest, Barlowe Subtropical Woodland, Barlowe Temperate Woodland | |
| Size | 70 centimeters long | |
| Primary Mobility | Octopod, Semi-Erect Legs | |
| Support | Exoskeleton (Chitin), Endoskeleton (Chitin) | |
| Diet | Adult: Carnivore (Spotted Sauceback, Carnofern Grubnub, Stowaway Harmbless, Xatakbrak, Logworm Sauceback, Rumpipe, Fourmaw Sauceback, Lungworm Clogmane, Flesh Fairy, Megalosheh larvae, Sansheh larvae, Cockatwice, Spectresnatch, Rainforest Gossalizard juveniles, Terrestrial Emulsecho, Spiny Dwarfjack, Tusked Grassblaster, Communal Janit (in bulk), Infilt Pewpa (juveniles in bulk), Mudfish, Teacup Saucebacks, Minikruggs, Crowned Vermentie juveniles), Scavengers; Juvenile: Carnivore (Borinvermee, Carnofern Flugwurm, Bora Scuttler, Cleaner Borvermid, Sapworms, Minibees, Gushitos, Silkruggs, Minikruggs, Xenobees, Uniwingworms, Sruglettes, Sweetworms) | |
| Respiration | Active (Tidal Microlungs) | |
| Thermoregulation | Ectotherm (basking) | |
| Reproduction | Sexual, Two Sexes, Lay Broods of up to 100 eggs | |
| Taxonomy | ||
| Domain Kingdom Subkingdom Phylum Clade Superclass Class Order Superfamily Family Genus Species | Eukaryota Binucleozoa Symbiovermes (info) Thoracocephalia Coluripoda Ossicancer Saurovermes (info) Glutitextilisauria Noctiglutinatoroidea Noctiglutinatoridae Arachnovaranus Arachnovaranus arborealis | |
| Ancestor: | Descendants: |
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Having split from their ancestor, the Crowned Vermentie has slightly shrunk down in size and produces four times more eggs than their ancestor to keep up with predation rates. This in turn means the eggs became smaller so that the lizardworm could create more of them using the same amount of energy, which in turn resulted in the hatchling being far smaller upon hatching. The youngsters also differ significantly from the adults morphologically, which allows them to fill a different niche and avoid competing with their parents. Once they first hatch from their eggs, these hatchling Crowned Vermenties (who weigh just one gram and are merely six centimeters long) will climb up to the tallest trees in the area before rearing up and starting to produce fine strands of silk called gossamers. These gossamers either get caught by strong winds or are lifted up by Sagan 4's static electric field, carrying the young lizardworm with it. This in turn allows the species to have a fairly high rate of dispersal, with the juveniles being capable of traveling over a mile before landing.
The juveniles themselves are generally more gracile in build than the adults, with dark colors to blend in amongst the melanophyte trees that dominate their habitat and eyes that are both proportionally large and face forward more than the adults, granting them greater binocular vision. These adaptations in turn allow the juvenile Crowned Vermenites to scuttle along and jump between branches while searching for small prey that can be easy to catch and dispatch such as Optidorsalians and tiny Entomocarcinians. The juveniles can also still produce long strands of webbing that connect from tree to tree to detect prey bumping into it, regularly feeling the strands to detect vibrations. If something does touch it and it's small enough to be considered food, the juveniles will quickly rush over to where the victim is since their webs are not that strong.
While the juveniles do sometimes hunt using webs, the adults do not do this at all, fully relying upon taking down their prey by using tooth and claw. Climbing down from the trees and becoming primarily terrestrial when half of their adult size, Crowned Vermenites shift their diet towards hunting small to midsized "vertebrate" prey like small saucebacks and buttpipers. Their longer jaws help them hold onto a struggling victim and the grasping forelimbs, once used for scampering among the treetops, help with subduing the prey so that the Crowned Vermentie can deliver a killing bite. Although the adults can climb trees, usually to avoid ground-dwelling predators such as the Shrogre, they aren't as proficient at climbing as the juveniles and as such typically stay on the ground. This in turn helps keep the juveniles safe from them as adult Crowned Vermenties do not recognize their own young and will opportunistically eat them.
Interestingly enough, Crowned Vermentie adults are not cannibalistic to one another, but they are territorial, so the species has evolved ways to establish boundaries. While adults no longer produce large webs, they still utilize silk for their daily lives except now it's used for communication. Crowned Vermenties will produce silk and spread it all over a large object like the trunk of a tree, a large bush, or a rock of some kind. This silk is in turn mixed with various chemicals that give off certain smells, tastes, and even different textures; as the silk breaks down over time the Crowned Vermentie will regularly return to these spots to keep them in peak condition. All of this helps individuals establish clear boundaries with one another, as an individual can investigate these signal posts and identify the health and sex of the other Crowned Vermentie and how long ago it had been in the area.
If two individuals meet at these boundaries, however, they will often start a confrontation. A physical fight, however, could leave a severe wound and leave them vulnerable to infection or predators, so adult Crowned Vermenties typically settle a dispute through display. This is why they evolved brighter patterns on their heads and pronounced head spikes, as they give off a more vibrant display and show off the health of the lizardworm. In these display matches, the two opponents will bob their heads back and forth and open their mouths wide as a threat display, while also swaying from side to side until one of them backs down or things escalate. If neither backs then, then it will often become a physical match and it can get pretty violent, but these are typically a last resort due to the risks a physical match can bring.
One exception to this is when a female is in heat, as her silk signal posts will give off a certain order that alerts males that she is ready to mate, causing them to wander into her turf. While females no longer eat male Crowned Vermenties after mating, a male does still need to provide her a meal in the form of a large kill, as she will violently attack and drive him away if he does not. If the male does provide a kill, he will stay out of the way while she gorges herself, as she will only even allow any advances when she is satiated. After the female has eaten her fill, the male will begin to display, moving his head up and down to both show the vibrant head patterns and his orange throat. If the female likes what she sees, she will allow him to mate with her, with the male sticking around with her and periodically mating to keep away potential rivals. This period of tenderness only lasts as long as the kill retains meat, however, as once it has been picked clean the female will violently drive him away like any normal intruder. Despite this, the male's work is done, as the female will almost certainly be developing eggs inside her with the large meal providing the extra nourishment needed to fuel the growth of so many eggs.
After about a week of the eggs growing inside of her, the female Crowned Vermentie will dig out a small ditch near some trees and lay her many many eggs, before then partially burying them and leaving them to their fate. After another three weeks of incubation, the eggs will hatch into tiny youngsters who will immediately begin to climb the nearby trees and disperse.
While Crowned Vermenties do shed their exoskeletons, like other Barlowe lizardworms the species will shed their plates individually like the scutes of a Terran crocodile or Terran turtle, as doing it all at once would leave them extremely vulnerable to threats. Even then, however, Crowned Vermenties will often hide within foliage when a lot of their exoskeleton plates have been shed and the new plates are still soft.