C-fan By Hyrotrioskjan Watch

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Flying pseudoarthropods come in many shapes,the countless micro-habitats and biomes of the Mundodendralis are a great canvas for mother nature. The C-fan, Aemulopterus flabellifera, is one of these creatures. It belongs to a group that lost its middle pair of wings and is more build for mobility than speed. They are also characterized by their modified tails that are used to distract and scare of predators but also to impress the opposite sex in skillful "scarf dances".

Both lateral and the dorsal jaw work together as a sucking pipe while the ventral jaw is actually used as a weapon.

The animal feeds in the juice of the largest trees, it is however not powerful enough to pierce the bark of the gigantic lifeforms. Instead they live in symbiosis with a family of cuspipods that usually lives under large branches where they glue themselves to the bark once they reach maturity.

At that point both animals depend very much on each other, the Aemulopterus get the surplus of juice from the cuspipods, which even offer places to rest by stretching out some of their legs so that the pseudoarthropods can grab them with their anal trunks.

On the other hand the Aemulopterus protect the cuspipods and take care of the reproduction of the immobile creatures by carrying spermatophores between the individuals of their colony.



Different species of these pseudoarthropods and cuspipods have evolved to coexist together, they differ in form of their "beaks", colors of their tails and the preferred location of their feeding grounds.

Some cuspipods even offer a second tread to their protectors by producing a venomous cocktail that the Aemulopterus can carry and inject with their lower jaw.

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Published : Feb 26, 2018