Aardmite

As most descendants of the spectacled arthrothere became larger, these creatures shrank in size. They are voracious scavengers, often found picking away at any local carcass. Because of this, their immune system has become greatly enhanced, enough to fend off almost any Arthrophage infection, with a high success rate.

The females’ ovipositor is very sharp, as it injects its eggs into carcasses. This way, it does not have to carry a developing larva inside of it for as long. To prevent the eggs from drying out, its eggs have developed a thin, waterproof chitinous layer. When the eggs hatch inside of a corpse, the baby will immediately begin feeding on the corpse from the inside out. The jaws harden first, so this process can begin before the rest of the body is done hardening. Within the first week of life, their body will be done hardening. They actually have a slightly thicker exoskeleton than their ancestors, as to provide defense against the similarly sized spectacled arthrothere. When they reach adult size and their carcass “home” is depleted of sustenance, they will embark on a brief journey to find a mate. They are capable of mating multiple times, but usually die only days after mating the first time.

As they are small and find themselves as prey items most of the time, they have developed a rough, bumpy outer shell. They also have a very acute sense of smell compared to their ancestors, using their antennae to detect corpses from up to 1.5 km away.