Shrubberpede

The Shrubberpede have modified their panel limbs to better camouflage themselves in their environment. Their panel limbs have become branching structures with the terminating portion approximating crystals so as to appear like the leaves of crystal flora. They tend to rest near or on crystal flora, disguised as seedlings or sections of the flora itself. They mainly live on and rest in or near Shrub Gazebos, as their camouflage most resembles their saplings. Their jaws are able to crack the crystals of these flora but rarely do they do so, as feeding extensively on crystal flora would leave their fake crystals as the only ones available to those species that do feed on the crystals. Their main food is the softer flora in their region, including various asterplents, and cryoflora. They predominantly rely on sight, scent and touch to find food and identify their surroundings. Their eyes have developed into simple compound eyes, giving them relatively good clarity of image. The underside of their heads and their antennae are lined with chemoreceptors. They respire via spiracles located along their sides at the back edge of each segment. Their branches also contain sets of spiracles, which serve to take in oxygen from their photosynthesis. In this way the Shrubberpede is able to recycle the waste from its photosynthesis to help fuel its metabolism. Its metabolism is rather ravenous, with an individual consuming its body weight in flora each day. Reproduction now takes place in specialized former spiracles in the tail segment, now referred to as the reproductive pores. They will lay clutches of up to 12 eggs on the underside of leaves, which will then hatch within 5 to 7 days. The young will reach full size within six months of hatching and can live up to 3 years.