Engineering core
Character
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: Expanding the fauna of Okarthell
- Image Credit: X
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Okarthell
- Name: Stridore
- Designation: non-sentient
- Origins: Okarthell
- Average Lifespan: Drones (females) and males: 2 standard years. Queens: 10 standard years
- Estimated Population: Planetary
- Description: A very large sturdy bee measuring 7.6 cms in length with a wingspan of 15.2 cms across. Golden in color with iridescent green on their sides, middle of back and wings. Tufts of fine hairs grow on their backs and their legs. They have two powerful front legs which are used for resting and perching, while their smaller hind legs are pressed against their abdomen during flight to hold onto pollen, all for legs are used when crawling through the hive. A long proboscis protrudes from the from of their faces. This is used for collecting nectar from tubular flowers that they might not otherwise reach. Stridore bees live in colonies of up to four or five hundred, which consists of one queen and the rest are sterile female drones. Stridore start out as an egg before hatching into a larva, which takes about eight days. The larval stage lasts for almost two weeks before entering a pupae stage. The pupae stage lasts a week before an adult Stridore emerges and joins the hive as a worker.
- Breathes: Type I
- Average Height of Adults: 1.2 cm
- Average Length of Adults: 7.6 cm
- Average wingspan of Adults: 15.2 cm
- Skin color: golden with some iridescent green. Some orange on proboscis, edge of wings, tufts of hair, end of stinger and feet
- Hair color: N/A
- Distinctions: Female drones measure 7.6 cms in length with a wingspan of 15.2 cms. They have a proboscis for collecting nectar and fine hairs on their backs and legs for carrying pollen. Females have stingers that can be used multiple times against anything that attacks their hive. The average lifespan of a drone is two standard years
Male Stridore bees are slightly smaller than the females and are duller in color. They don't have a stinger or fine hairs for collecting pollen. They spend most of their time searching the forests of Okarthell looking for a mate, rather then stay within the hive, which they leave shortly after being able to fly. A single male Stridore will mate with several queens in its short two year lifetime.
Queen Stridore are roughly the size of a drone, with several exceptions. The queen has a larger abdomen with no stinger instead they possess an ovipositor with which she lays upwards of fifty eggs a day. The queen also has a smaller proboscis than the drones. During its ten year lifetime, a queen Stridore will lay thousands of eggs.
- Races: N/A
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
- Rapid breeders: Stridore bees can multiply at a rapid rate, keeping their numbers high even after any event that threatens the hive. Such as bad weather, predators or other natural disasters.
- Pollinators: The biggest and most important thing about Stridore bees is that they are pollinators. They are one of the biggest pollinators in the jungles of Okarthell. Their large numbers and numerous hives give them numbers while their long proboscis allows them to pollinate more flowers than any other animal species in the forest. Without them, many flowers and trees would struggle to reproduce.
- Small in size: Despite their thick chitin exoskeleton and a sharp stinger, these bees fall prey to large predators. Birds are their biggest predators, being able to catch them on the wing. Another enemy is predators seeking honey within their hives. Any animal with a thick enough hide or fur can ignore the stingers and tear apart a hive, leaving the bees starting all over again.
- Not that smart: Like most insects, Stridore bees aren't very intelligent. Sometimes they get stuck in situations they can't seem to escape, even if the exit is right in front of them.
- Diet: Nectarivore
- Communication: Touch and smell (through antenna) wing vibrations, body movements.
- Technology level: None
- Religion/Beliefs: None
- General behavior: Stridore bees live in colonies of all female drones lead by a queen. Each drone has a job, whether it's guarding the entrance, taking care of the young or collecting pollen and nectar. Male Stridore leave the hive within minutes after hatching, where they will spend the rest of their lives living semi solitary lives as they search for queen Stridore that haven't started hives yet. The bees themselves are somewhat docile when outside of the hive, going as far as being gently picked up. When inside the hive, Stridore can be aggressive when provoked. Meaning anything or anyone who gets to close gets stung. Nector collected from flowers is fed to growing Stridore larva and to the queen. Pollen is stored in special combs within the hive, which then turns into honey. To seek flowers from which they collect pollen and nectar, Stridore bees use both sense of smell and sight. They smell with their antennae, which can pick up the scent of flowers from a kilometer away. These bees see in a wide range of colors, even infrared, allowing them to spot specific flowers from a good distance away.
Stridore bees have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. The Kiir say that when the first flowers bloomed after the Age of Fire, a queen Stridore bees tumbled out of them. They are considered the most important bee in the jungles of Okarthell, due to both their large numbers and the vast amount of flower species they pollinate. Not only that, the bees themselves and the honey they make provide food for larger predators. Even the Kiir collect the honey produced by the Stridore bees. They slowly burn large green leaves to create lots of smoke, which is used to calm the bees. Unlike most forest creatures that take honey from the bees, Kiir take it carefully and only a small amount. That way the bees don't lose to much.
