Tonboskimmer
Descendant of | Ancestor of |
The Tonboskimmer split from its ancestor the Tonboswarmer. It has specialized to be a planktovore. Its long scooping mouth dips in the water as it flies over the water surface. Tiny mouth bristles line the walls of the mouth trapping plankton inside. Water is then spit out and then it swallows them. During feeding it must fly slowly, hovering over the water. Its back webbed tail-tentacles are now used as foot, to stand on when resting. While they have great stamina when flying they do need to rest. When resting they will aim their wings towards the sun so they can perform photosynthesis and even gain more energy. Like their ancestor their cellulose exoskeleton helps support their weight but is flexible enough to let them bend. Their strong wings allow them to hover. This is especially useful when skimming or spawning over the water or cryobowls. Its larva start out like normal swarmers but then develop into a hard cellulose covered pupa. Pupa develop under the sand or mud of the bodies of water they live in, if in a cryobowl it is just at the bottom of the bowl. Pupas develop in the fall before the water freezes or gets too cold. They hatch in the spring when the ice has thawed and the water is warmer. Those in the coast where the water doesn't, and freeze still go through this stage since there is far less food to feed on in the winter and thus would starve. Once the pupa hatches its body is transformed into a flying adult. Note that only adults have sex organs to mate with. The larva only have one eye while the adult stage have three.