From Wikimalia
| The Bug Collection
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| Rashash Locust
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| Habitat: | Ta'Raekhet arid regions.
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| Description: | Leopard-spotted in umber, tan, mixed with greens and earth tones, this grasshopper possesses a triangular head, large eyes, jointed antennae and three interworking mandibles. They grow to three thums in length, much of which is comprised of their rear jumping legs and wings. A flexible split carapace covers the folded wings, which are black and spotted with green dots. All six of their legs display sharp barbs and spines, and end in twin hooks. Both males and females possess an organ extending backward from their undersides, which strongly resembles the ovipositor of other species.
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| Notes: | Most of this creature's life is spent as a typical grasshopper, neither pleasing nor offending many, but in times of deep drought, they undergo a metamorphosis to their locust form, which elongates their wings and rear legs, and darkens their coloration. Females during such conditions produce many times the eggs of their typical clutches, and such 'locust-born' offspring do not manifest a grasshopper life stage at all, but are born as locusts. Their diet when swarming can become omnivorous, as they will eat smaller insects and their eggs, and sometimes even attack small mammals and reptiles which become disoriented in the clouds of insects.
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The Great Rashash Plague of 216 AR is still the yardstick by which insect plagues are measured. Over five million grans of agricultural land were stripped bare, causing a famine that lasted three years.
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