Jumpmite

These hardy residents of southern glicker are quite adaptable, eating anything from rotting plant matter to dead fauna. They commonly hide near algae-coated rocks and between small plants, where they are less likely to be spotted by predators. Adult female jumpmites have a characteristic strong underbite and pointy chin, while males retain a more normal jaw shape. This helps them identify which jumpmite is which, although the jaw’s unwieldy shape has caused it to start being selected against.

The jumpmite's antennae are smaller than their ancestor’s, not used to interact with the environment so much as they are used to smell. Their hind legs are notably more robust than the other ones, so that they can hop away from predators in a similar manner to frogs and grasshoppers. Their exoskeleton has further hardened, causing them to invest less energy on their vestigial endoskeleton. As a result it now lacks true leg bones and ribs, for the endoskeleton has been mostly simplified to a vestigial spine. The ribcage and leg bones still remain as cartilaginous structures, but these are attached to the inner exoskeleton. This is so they can remain as attachment sites for the muscles.

Jumpmite eggs are laid in the ground, usually near a suitable food source such as a fresh carcass or dying flora. The female first digs a small hole with its back legs, then laying its eggs in the hole, and finally covering the hole back up with dirt. The eggs are laid in late fall and overwinter for the following cool months. They finally hatch into completely chitinized, nearly fully developed offspring the following spring.