Tectonid

On the world of Gepara, there resides an eusocial species along the planet’s tropical mountain ranges. On the map below, the red dots indicate the location of multiple colonies. They live in the lush jungle areas where food is plentiful but competition is high. Because they live in fortified colonies within the mountains, the males need to hunt for food. In large packs consisting of hundreds of males, they hunt near rivers and in the dense forest. They have their colonies high enough because of the danger of flooding and near enough to the ground to go on hunting trips.

 

Description

Tectonids are a species of soft-bodied creatures with hardened shells. The strength of this Tectonid species lies in numbers. As individuals, they are highly vulnerable, even the queen of a colony, despite its size roughly that of a school bus. It stays its whole life anchored in a cave wall, caring for and protecting the offspring. Within the colony, all individuals act as one, and each has their own role. The workers make new tunnels, providing an efficient infrastructure. For food, the colony relies on the hunting lifestyle of the drones or soldiers. The Queens manage resources and care for the larvae and are the only fertile females of this species. As an added measure of protection, the colony has multiple chambers where soldiers wait to ambush rival colony soldiers or predators.

Sexual Dimorphism

Males and females differ significantly from each other in both appearance and role. With male Tectonids filling the role of soldiers and females that of workers and possibly queens. Males reach only on average 0.9 meters in length, females can grow up to 2.2 meters, and queens can reach 10 meters. Drastic difference! This difference in appearance is advantageous to the colony structure. Males are more agile compared to females, who have sturdier builds.

Their smaller size allows them to move efficiently in dense jungle environments, searching for food and quickly coming to the aid of the colony. Females are built for labor. Workers (non-reproductive females) are larger because they need the strength to create tunnels and maintain colony infrastructure. These tectonids have specialized plates that cover their head, shielding them from falling debris. Smaller or more juvenile females act as the nurses of the colony, removing parasites and other harmful creatures. If a tectonid female exceeds a size of 3 meters [10 ft], it’s safe to say that she will become a new queen. Then she gets the urge to create a hole for herself to settle in. The queen, being entirely stationary, devotes all energy to reproduction and colony control. Males from outside colonies are welcomed for reproduction, ensuring genetic diversity. Mating occurs when males use specialized tentacles to fertilize the queen’s eggs through openings in her shell, which seal immediately after fertilization.

Types of Tectonids

Soldier (male)

Soldier Tectonids are responsible for providing food for the queen and the colony. Individually, they stand little chance against most creatures in their ecosystem; in large coordinated packs, they are formidable. Their middle legs have developed into longer, more versatile apandages. They are used for catching prey, carrying it back to the nest, and helping fertilize eggs within the Queen. Their mandible-like radulas are smaller than those of a female but are ideal for wounding prey and rival tectonids. They mostly hunt for Bravik, a large omnivore that mostly lives near or on mountains.

Worker (female)

The worker Tectonids are the colony’s terraformers; they make new pathways for the colony and also create the anchoring spots for the queen. Another role for these Tectonids is to keep a queen healthy and free from parasites because of the stationary position. Hence, they are also the nurses.
Rarely are any of these females fertile, but every queen starts out as a worker. However, they may already be different from normal workers and continue to grow out into their massive forms.
The worker’s radulas are equipped to grind rocks, but they also secrete an enzyme that absorbs into the minerals to make it easier to grind. However, this liquid is often a valuable resource for factions of poachers who sell it for profit for use in various applications.

Larvae

The larvae of the Tectonids always reside in a special chamber within the queen for protection. Because they haven’t developed legs and shells yet, they are an easy target for any invaders and parasites. By developing within the Queen’s armor, they are far more likely to survive and mature into adults working for the colony.
Outside of the nurturing area, they don’t stand much of a chance. Only in dire situations do larvae leave their mother’s care early.

The Queen

The Queens are massive, averaging 10 meters long, or the size of a school bus. Embedded deep within the rock walls, a queen serves as the colony’s main protector. In an environment of constant competition, she is the reason colonies grow into vast, army-like forces. Anchored into the stone, her legs are adapted to lock her securely in place, while her powerful tail rests in a coiled position to brace her massive body with ease. Because of her size, movement across land is cumbersome and slow, so it is in the colony’s best interest to feed and groom her where she lies. Only in rare circumstances will a queen abandon her station.

For reproduction, males from outside colonies may be allowed entry. Within her armored shell lies the womb, where eggs are fertilized through numerous openings by the males’ appendages. These openings seal immediately afterward. Over the next 10–12 months, the larvae develop into juvenile Tectonids, fully capable of taking on their roles within the colony. When the time comes, the sealed passages reopen, and a mass birth occurs—ushering in a new generation.

 

This entry was made by the talented Sijbren Reitsma

Author’s Note:

The Tectonid is inspired by several real-life animals. For reproduction, we have frogs. Most frogs lay small clusters of eggs called frogspawn; the Surinam toad (Pipa pipa) has evolved a far stranger method. As the female lays her eggs, the male fertilizes them and presses them into the skin of her back. The skin swells into a spongy, honeycomb-like texture, forming protective pockets around each egg. Over the next 12–20 weeks, the embryos undergo metamorphosis inside these chambers—hatching not as fragile tadpoles, but as fully formed juvenile frogs, already less vulnerable to predation.

Ants also provide inspiration. They embody the ultimate colony lifestyle, reshaping their environment and functioning as a single, unified organism. Individual ants show little self-interest; the survival of the colony is paramount. Some of the largest ant colonies host multiple queens, much like the Tectonids.

Argonauts, a type of pelagic octopus, add yet another layer. Their sexual dimorphism is extreme: females can be up to twenty times larger than males. A female produces a delicate, paper-thin shell in which she broods her eggs, while the diminutive males, often no longer than 2 cm, play a very different role. Like Tectonid males, argonaut males possess a specialized reproductive arm. Their hectocotylized arm, used for sperm transfer, can actually detach from the male and remain inside the female’s mantle cavity long after mating – an unusual but effective adaptation.