Pspyder
Colony lifeform native to the planet Trees
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PspyderColony lifeform native to the planet Trees |
Physically pspyders consist of two parts: weavers and pspyderweb.
Weavers closely resemble terran arachnids, but possess 10 legs and a
four segmented body. They are colony creatures, spinning large web
structures in the middle and upper branches of the larger tree forms.
During the initial exploration of Trees and its lifeforms, it was
discovered that the webbing spun by the weavers was not just simple
silk, but a complex biological conductor similar to nervous tissue.
Signals were found to travel around the web and between the various
weavers living on it. At first it was believed that the signals were
used by the weavers to communicate with each other in a manner
analogous to the chemical and motion cues used by terrestrial hive
insects. Further study revealed that this was not the case however.
Rather, it is the web which is the actual controlling lifeform. A
weaver colony will instinctively spin a web complex in any suitable
location. When the web has reached sufficient complexity it will begin
generating neuronal signals which are picked up by sense clusters in
the feet and abdomen of the weavers and take control of their nervous
systems. Thereafter the web and weaver become a single lifeform: the
Pspyder. Possessing an intelligence approximately equal to a
terrestrial raccoon the pspyder uses its weavers to both maintain and
defend itself and to hunt for food in the form of leaves, fruit and
insect equivalents. The weavers gather, hunt and consume the food and
their excrement nourishes the web. This along with moderate sunlight
and rain is all the pspyder needs to survive. The exact classification
of the creature as a plant, an animal, an insect or something
in-between remains a point of debate with amateur biologists to this
day.
Pspyders in the wild generally live 6-8yrs. However, specimens in
captivity have been known to live as long as 12yrs. An adult pspyder is
sub-sophont and about as intelligent as a baseline terragen raccoon or
beaver. Adult pspyders range in size from about a meter across to 3
meters depending on species. On rare occasions larger specimens have
been found but they exhibit no greater intelligence than their more
normal sized brethren. The appears to be an upper limit on the level of
complexity achievable within a web structure although some biologists
believe that barring major climate change or natural disaster, the
species may eventually evolve to sentience. There has been some
discussion of provolve, but to date no such attempts have been made.
Pspyders have two methods of reproduction: internal and external.
Internal reproduction is used to replace weavers as they are killed by
predators or lost to aging (a weaver lifespan is about 90 days). During
internal reproduction the weavers of a particular pspyder lay eggs at
special points within the web structure. Spores released by the web at
these points fertilize the eggs which mature and than hatch into new
weavers for the use of the web.
Pspyders reproduce externally by releasing spores into the air in the
spring. Some of the spores eventually become trapped in the body hair
of the weavers of other webs where they are groomed away and consumed.
Hormonal signals released by the spores both fertilize the eggs of the
weavers and prevent them from being fertilized by the spores of their
web. The offspring produced leave the web after hatching and set out to
create their own webs in some suitable location.
Pspyders fill an ecological niche similar to that of social insects or
small animals on Earth. They prey on smaller creatures and consume
plant matter and are in turn consumed themselves. Their neural control
signals function purely via touch and are not effected by atmospheric
electromagnetic phenomena to any greater or lesser degree than any
other animal.
