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Description
Demonic hornets of an alien sky, Silverwings are wolf-sized insectoids with a deadly appearance and an even deadlier weapon.

Silverwing inhabit thankfully few planets, where they serve as either mid-level consumers or apex predators. Though slim, their entire body is covered in an overlapping lightweight armor with the exception of their teeth, wings, and spikes, which are made of a material more similar to bone. With an incredibly fast metabolism and abundant supply of both vessels and nerves, Silverwings are capable of sudden quick bursts of energy. However, they tire fast, lacking the underlying stamina of more meaty creatures. Their armor and size also makes flying a difficult task, so the species uses it sparingly, and has evolved to be efficient on the ground to compensate. Silverwings possess incredibly developed ocular organs, and can't handle bright ultraviolet lights. During the day they coat their eyes in debris to block out light stimuli, and become passive. Most will burrow or climb to a high spot. Some will scavenge, but only on land. This is the closest a Silverwing ever gets to sleeping.

During dusk they the species is most active. Removing the debris from their eyes, they take to the air in a frenzy to search for prey that hasn't quite made it home yet. To compensate for their loud buzzing, they move quickly, zipping through the trees to catch the smaller prey. This is their most active moment, and lasts on average 45 minutes. Later on they calm down, flying slower, or no longer flying at all. In this stage they forage: carrion is a favorite, but insects, fruit, and other injured Silverwing will do (healthy Silverwings never attack eachother because their mandibles can pierce each others eyes, causing permanent damage). If one gets too hungry, they may strip bark from a tree just to fill their stomachs. While not social, they can easily detect the bodies of dead animals, so more than one will often be seen feeding on the same corpse; tearing into their meal as quick as possible to get back to the hunt.

But this species is far more infamous for its method of defense. When they feel threatened, Silverwings can repurpose their largest set of wings as aerial guillotines. Taking to the air, they buzz around their opponent before diving in, angling the edge of their primary wings towards their opponent. Just before they make contact they immobilize said wings. The effect is not unlike a 90 mph thin garrote slicing through meat. They will do this until they no longer feel threatened, or their enemy is dead (or the former because of the latter). If the second, odds are they will eat the corpse. It's just more protein. For some strange reason they do not use their wing-weapons for regular hunting, only "for defense", aggressive as it may be.

When encountering a Silverwing, be very careful not to alert it. They are easily angered (like hippos) but do not consider humans to be natural prey. The species has far too many bones and fights back a little too much. Should a Silverwing decide to attack, decide quickly what course of action you are going to take: run and hide, or tackle the creature. The first will not always be an option, and the second is difficult, but not impossible (and deprives it of using its main aerial strategy). A Silverwings greatest weakness is its eyes (of course), and the creatures seem to know this. Despite having a thick protective coating, they recoil in fear when something grabs or aggressively touches said eyes. This species is related to the Nazzgleep

On an added note, they appear to be one of the many prey of Bikreuvian ... unsurprisingly.

Description
Demonic hornets of an alien sky, Silverwings are wolf-sized insectoids with a deadly appearance and an even deadlier weapon.

Silverwing inhabit thankfully few planets, where they serve as either mid-level consumers or apex predators. Though slim, their entire body is covered in an overlapping lightweight armor with the exception of their teeth, wings, and spikes, which are made of a material more similar to bone. With an incredibly fast metabolism and abundant supply of both vessels and nerves, Silverwings are capable of sudden quick bursts of energy. However, they tire fast, lacking the underlying stamina of more meaty creatures. Their armor and size also makes flying a difficult task, so the species uses it sparingly, and has evolved to be efficient on the ground to compensate. Silverwings possess incredibly developed ocular organs, and can't handle bright ultraviolet lights. During the day they coat their eyes in debris to block out light stimuli, and become passive. Most will burrow or climb to a high spot. Some will scavenge, but only on land. This is the closest a Silverwing ever gets to sleeping.

During dusk they the species is most active. Removing the debris from their eyes, they take to the air in a frenzy to search for prey that hasn't quite made it home yet. To compensate for their loud buzzing, they move quickly, zipping through the trees to catch the smaller prey. This is their most active moment, and lasts on average 45 minutes. Later on they calm down, flying slower, or no longer flying at all. In this stage they forage: carrion is a favorite, but insects, fruit, and other injured Silverwing will do (healthy Silverwings never attack eachother because their mandibles can pierce each others eyes, causing permanent damage). If one gets too hungry, they may strip bark from a tree just to fill their stomachs. While not social, they can easily detect the bodies of dead animals, so more than one will often be seen feeding on the same corpse; tearing into their meal as quick as possible to get back to the hunt.

But this species is far more infamous for its method of defense. When they feel threatened, Silverwings can repurpose their largest set of wings as aerial guillotines. Taking to the air, they buzz around their opponent before diving in, angling the edge of their primary wings towards their opponent. Just before they make contact they immobilize said wings. The effect is not unlike a 90 mph thin garrote slicing through meat. They will do this until they no longer feel threatened, or their enemy is dead (or the former because of the latter). If the second, odds are they will eat the corpse. It's just more protein. For some strange reason they do not use their wing-weapons for regular hunting, only "for defense", aggressive as it may be.

When encountering a Silverwing, be very careful not to alert it. They are easily angered (like hippos) but do not consider humans to be natural prey. The species has far too many bones and fights back a little too much. Should a Silverwing decide to attack, decide quickly what course of action you are going to take: run and hide, or tackle the creature. The first will not always be an option, and the second is difficult, but not impossible (and deprives it of using its main aerial strategy). A Silverwings greatest weakness is its eyes (of course), and the creatures seem to know this. Despite having a thick protective coating, they recoil in fear when something grabs or aggressively touches said eyes. This species is related to the Nazzgleep

On an added note, they appear to be one of the many prey of Bikreuvian ... unsurprisingly.