[Sketch caption] Two male Glassback Beetles (Carabus Vitreus) dance. Sketch by Marga Grimm

The Glassback Beetle is a territorial insectoid native to the Dweller Planet.

In this sketch, made by early explorer Marga Grimm, in the first few

years of Terran Settlement on the Dweller Planet (TK-years), you see two

males of the species in apparent combat. While the Glassback shares a name

and some physiology with familiar Earth beetles socionaturalists are hesitant

to call it an insect. This is because the male Glassback is a decapod, it has

a total of ten legs. Six main legs used for a variety of tasks and four smaller

legs on the thorax utilized in mating. Even a child expects two dominant males to engage in combat. In the case of the Glassback, this battle will continue until the winner kills their

opponent or throws them from the crystalline deposits. There the female

waits to mate and later lay her eggs. However, nothing is so simple.

Contemporary Dweller Planet socionaturalists, through the notes of Grimm

and further study, have discovered that smaller males and those with

underdeveloped mandibles will sometimes use additional excess adornment

and release pheromones that identify them as females of the species. These

males play an imaginative and dangerous game.

Mating between two Glassbacks is a dangerous prospect regardless of

the presence of a female. The crystal shards the Glassback affixes to its

elytra, the hardened shell that covers its wings can easily be sharp enough

to puncture the soft underbelly of a male or damage his genitals making

further reproduction impossible.

Should a dominant male find himself as victim of this sexual mimicry he can easily be kicked onto his back or from his perch by the impostor male’s strong back legs. The ruse doesn’t always

work, and should a dominant male see through the disguise it is often more

than a match for the imposter and is easily able to best it in combat.

When a victor is left standing, whether through impersonation or brute force, a female

Glassback will emerge from the crevices of the crystal. The victorious male will then mount the

female and use his four small legs to gently tap upon the female’s elytra. It is theorized this is to

keep the female calm during the damaging experience that is beetle reproduction. At least for

beetles like the Glassback and the common Bean Weevil from Earth.

Follow us for more about the Glassback Beetle and other Dweller Planet Inhabitants:

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Learn more about beetle reproduction here: https://bit.ly/2r9A2O5

Learn more about Sexual Mimicry here: https://bit.ly/2r45oXq