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Description

Basic Info*: Insectashells are insectoid creatures who are unique in that they typically have 3 skeletons. A weak endoskeleton that serves to help support Insectashell’s inner body structure and allow Insectashells to support their body’s even when they have been forced to completely abandon their exoskeletons. A primary exoskeleton that serves the same function that the exoskeletons of most insectoid species do.

They are also capable of creating a secondary exoskeleton by separating their primary exoskeleton from their bodies and allowing it to expand before reconnecting their bodies to it using special hair like tendons that grow all over the main body of Insectashell’s to use as a type of exo-suit armour before growing a new primary exoskeleton allowing them to use 2 exoskeletons at once.

While it is technically possible for an Insectashell to use a secondary exoskeleton without connecting its body to them, doing so make them much easier to use and prevents them from slowly rotting away. It usually takes an Insectashell about a mouth to grow a new high quality exoskeleton from scratch, but it’s possible to grow a crappy one in as little as a week, though crappy ones tend to be fragile, don’t protect the body as well, have noticeable flaws, and don’t last nearly as long as high quality ones. While growing a new exoskeleton Insectashell’s will typically try to move as little as possible as moving a lot can impair the overall quality of the developing exoskeleton or cause it to grow malformed. Insectashells will typically replace their exoskeletons every 6 to 8 years for various reasons.

They are capable of discarding there exoskeletons completely, but rarely do so without a very good reason. This is at least partly due to the fact that while there exoskeletons are very good at protecting their main bodies, being resistant to most elements and blunt force trauma; their main bodies are very easily injured and weak to most elements that they don’t have an affinity to. Insectashells tend to become extremely nervous, timid, and self conscious about their appearance when without an exoskeleton and will go out of their way to avoid being seen.

High quality discarded Insectashell exoskeletons are slow to deteriorate. A high quality exoskeleton can take several years to show signs of noticeable decay. As a result of how strong they are, and how long they take to deteriorate they are highly sought after by other species for various reasons. However due to the fact that many Insectashells tend to keep their old exoskeleton’s after they’ve been detached for sentimental reasons instead of throwing them out means that discarded exoskeletons can be hard to come by and thus are very valuable. Most Insectashells are aware of this fact and at least a few are known to sell their exoskeletons for premium prices as a source of primary income.

*Note: The above info relates mostly to Adult Insectashells, for more info on Laval, Infant, Adolescent, & Elder Insectashell’s see the “Life Cycle & Physiology” section below

Diet: Insectashells are technically omnivorous and thus are able to safely eat most types of non-toxic food. However their digestive juices are extremely weak when it comes to dissolving hard foods. As a result of this, along with the fact that growing new exoskeletons can cause them to become dehydrated if they don’t take in enough fluids and that it’s common for Insectashell’s to have week or non-existent teeth, most Insectashell’s survive of a diet of mostly liquids with the occasional soft and/or juicy food item. Reports of Insectashell’s with more, unique diets have occasionally been reported.

Size: Newborn Insectashell’s are usually a little smaller than a foot in height. By the time they reach adulthood they are usually within the 6 - 8 foot range in height while using 2 exoskeletons, though some as small as 4 feet tall and as big as 10 feet tall are also known to exist. Insectashells are usually roughly half a foot smaller without their exoskeletons.

Common elements: Most Insectashells have the Clay element, as it’s easy for them to pick up and easily passed down to their offspring. Earth and PSI are also common affinities among Insectashells but not nearly as much so as Clay. It is very rare for Insectashells to be born with an affinity for any other elements, but it is possible for them to develop other affinities over time.

Hereditary magic: Insectashells are generally not very good at utilizing magic. Some Insectashells have been known to use a special technique to work elemental energy from the surrounding area into developing exoskeletons in an effort to make them more resistant to damage, or to further customize them to their liking. But this practise is far from common place due to the fact that doing so is extraordinarily difficult without abandoning at least their secondary exoskeletons. First, it slows down the development of new exoskeletons, and because it takes years of practise to master the skills to safely infuse the elemental energy without damaging the developing exoskeletons or inadvertently harming the main body. Element infused exoskeletons will usually retain their infused elements until long after they have been abandoned and deteriorated into dust.

Elemental weaknesses/resistances:

Most Insectashell exoskeletons are usually at least somewhat resistant to most elements (with a few notable exceptions listed below). Exactly how resistant they are varies depending on the individual exoskeleton and the Insectashell who made it. While Insectashell exoskeletons can help protect the inner body inside, if for some reason an Insectashell with no exoskeletons is suddenly exposed to large amounts of any element they do not have an affinity with the shock can seriously harm the Insectashell due to the fact that (with the possible exception of PSI) their main bodies are born with no elemental residencies. That said it is possible for Insectashells to develop resistances to certain elements if they are gradually exposed to them over a long periods of time. Below are a list of particularly notable elements when it comes to Insectashell’s and there exoskeletons

Water: Insectashell’s exoskeletons usually cannot be damaged by water. But there secondary exoskeletons can still let in water through various holes and joints which can build up in the space between there exoskeletons and their main body. Usually this is nothing more than a minor annoyance as wile this can hinder their ability to move somewhat it usually won’t harm them and will eventually drain out once they’re out of the water. However this can be dangerous if an Insectashell needs to swim as the trapped water can weigh them down if they can’t abandon their exoskeletons quickly enough.

Fire: Insectashell exoskeletons are somewhat resistant to fire in a similar manner to how they resist most other elements. However this resistance has its limitations and the exoskeletons are unable to protect the main body from extreme heat generated from the fire. Prolonged exposure can often end up permanently damaging the tendons that Insectashells use to attach themselves to their exoskeletons, and direct exposure to a Insectashell’s main body can potentially kill them within as short a time span of as a few seconds

Ice: It is difficult to seriously damage Insectashell exoskeletons with ice. It is not uncommon for them to begin to freeze making them heavier and also making it harder for the inner body to move. Furthermore they cannot protect the inner body from the cold temperatures that emanate from the ice. If an Insectashell becomes too cold, it’s body’s metabolism will start to slow down and its ability to perform basic functions becomes hindered. If this happens and they are unable to get out of the cold fast enough it can result in permanent brain damage or even death.

Acid: This is the one element that insectashell exoskeletons are weak to. Exposure to Acid will weaken Insectashell exoskeletons and prolonged exposure can easily damage, if not completely destroy the exoskeletons. Damage to Insectashell exoskeletons caused by acid is extremely difficult to repair and will often times result in the main body being forced to abandon the exoskeletons altogether in favor of growing a new 1’s. If an Insectashell is exposed to acid while without it’s exoskeletons it can cause severe skin burns and prolonged exposure can potentially damage the tendons they use to attach themselves to their exoskeletons.

Common locations: No one really remembers were Insectashells originally came from, and considering that they can be found almost anywhere that isn’t too hot or cold for them to survive no one really cares that much. However Insectashells are particularly common place in Mew York City.

Climate preferences: Insectashells aren’t too picky in regards to where they are willing to live and can be found almost anywhere that isn’t to too hot & dry for them to stay hydrated, or too cold for them to survive. They are fine as long as the environment around them doesn’t inhibit or prevent them from growing or maintaining their exoskeletons.

Ability to Plan & Abstract: Insectashells are considered by most to be a highly intelligent species. While the level of intelligence varies from individual to individual, all of them are capable of at least basic level thinking with the ability to rationalize, understand basic concepts and principles, and learn new things. However the vast majority of them are far more intelligent than that.

Language: Most Insectashells now a day’s speck Common as their first language. However Insectashells are able to learn nearly any type of language without too much hassle so long as there given enough time to do so. Insectashells used to have their own language commonly referred to as Insectaclick for the fact that it's comprised of a bunch of varying clicking & hissing sounds which is unique to their species. However as they started doing business with other species this language started being used less and due to the fact that for other spices it's difficult to understand and almost impossible to speak. Meeting a Insectashell in this day and age who is fluent in Insectaclick is considered a novelty.

Life Cycle & Physiology:

Larval: Insectashells are born with one small round & very thick exoskeleton with no joints, with holes for the eyes, a bigger hole for the mouth, and 1 last small hole in the back for waste removal which is detached from their main body which have yet to fully develop a solid from or endoskeleton. In this state they are unable to move very much and so it is up to their parents to ensure the larval Insectashell’s basic needs are met and to protect them from harm during this stage in their life as apart from there exoskeleton they are completely defenceless. They remain like this until they reach roughly 7-8 mouths of age at which point their main bodies have grown and developed to the point where they are able to break out of there exoskeleton and move onto the next stage of their life.

Infant: After breaking out of there first exoskeleton Insectashells will start rapidly growing and shedding new exoskeletons every few weeks, for the next 4 - 5 years. During this time they learn to master their body’s basic functions including those that will allow them to manipulate there exoskeletons at will. They also learn some of the basic knowledge that they’ll need later on in life. At this point in their lives they have the ability to create and discard new exoskeletons at an accelerated rate, however they lack the ability to properly grow or use a secondary exoskeleton. The exoskeletons they create during this stage in life are often malformed, very fragile and easily broken and as a result of this Infant Insectashells relay on their parents to protect them from harm as for the most part they are still unable to do so themselves.

During this stage of their lives they are able to alter the shape of their main body over time to the point where when they reach Adolescence there body shape can potentially be quite different than those of their parents. There endoskeletons, while somewhat developed are very rubbery and malleable due to the fact that Infant Insectashell bodies are still developing and without an exoskeleton to support their main bodies are unable to support a solid inner form.

Adolescences: By the time they reach the age of 5 and a half to 6 years of age Insectashells have developed exoskeletons with a near finalized body shape but still possess a limited ability to alter it somewhat. They have also more or less mastered most of their body's basic functionalities and their exoskeletons have fully developed. The speed of their development slows down a bit allowing adolescent Insectashells to create more solid exoskeletons that will function more like the ones that they will use later on in life. These exoskeletons are still not as strong as those that they will be able to make as an adult and have to be shed every 5 to 7 months due to their still developing bodies slowly growing larger. They gradually gain the ability to use their species signature ability to create and use a secondary exoskeleton, but will be unable to properly maintain and use said exoskeletons for long periods of time until they become adults. Usually sometime between the ages of 13 to 15 years of age they end up going into a state of hibernation for a week or 2 during which there body’s undergo their final adjustments as they transition into adulthood.

Adults: After their hibernation state ends they wake up as fully grown (at least in terms of physiology) adults. The primary exoskeleton they were using prior to waking up as an adult has disengaged from their main body and has transitioned into a secondary exoskeleton witch the Insectashell will usually continue to use for the next few months until they can grow a better one. This is the only stage of their lives were they can bread.

Elders: As Insectashells reach their elder years they lose their ability to reproduce, their endoskeleton gradually begins to fail them, and it starts to become harder for them to grow new exoskeletons. To compensate they will usually retreat somewhere private were they feel safe for a few months as they attempt to thicken their primary exoskeleton as much as they can before partially absorbing said exoskeleton into their body so that they can fuse it to their weakening endoskeleton. Doing so reinforces their bodies and allows them to use less energy to maintain their exoskeleton. But it also means that they can no longer grow any new exoskeletons or connect themselves to a secondary one. As a result of this they will use this fused skeleton until the end of their life.

Breading Cycle and Compatibility: Insectashells are able to bread with any insectoid spices with at least a somewhat similar body shape to the Insectashell in question however they are able to bread with certain other non-insectoid spices so long as their body shape is similar to the Insectashell in question.

In order to bread Insectashell's must abandon both of their exoskeletons making their main body vulnerable. This makes it so that Insectashells are hesitant to bread with anyone they don’t truly trust, and wish to raise a child with the individual they plan to bread with. After breading Insectashells will typically retreat somewhere where they feel safe, to hide out for at least several mouths until they can create some new exoskeletons to replace the ones they abandoned to bread.

Pregnant Females will develop large exoskeletons of lesser quality and stay in hiding until their new child is born. This is so that they can protect their bodies while allocating most of its resources to the development of her unborn child to properly develop in the womb. It takes roughly 3 mouths of development before the child is ready to be born. At this time the female will abandon her exoskeletons so that she may safely give birth to her child. Once her child is born the female will usually pass off all child rearing responsibility to her mate for the next several months while she grows some new exoskeletons for herself.

Head Hunters: It is almost impossible for Head Hunters to possess Insectashell bodies while they’re inside their exoskeletons. It is possible for them possess Insectashell bodies that are not in exoskeletons. But it is difficult to do so as the main bodies of Insectashells are quick to decay after death when outside their exoskeletons. They are also not very desirable for Head Hunters due to the fact that once they die they lose the ability to grow or maintain an exoskeleton, the bodies tend to be weak and easily damaged, and worse yet even when attached using a scarf the bodies rarely last move them a year before becoming unusable. They usually adapt to such bodies by losing their fur/feathers & growing antennae.

Some discarded Insectashell exoskeletons can be modified so that it’s possible for Head Hunters to possess them as bodies. Head Hunters possessing modified Insectashell exoskeletons adapt to them by slightly changing colour to better match their new body but besides this for the most part they remain as they were beforehand. Head Hunters often state that discarded Insectashell exoskeletons feel hollow and that they can be hard to get used to. However when attached via scarf discarded Insectashell exoskeletons can be difficult to damage by anything besides acid and thanks to their already slow rate of decay can often last a very, VERY, long time.

Trivia:

-A little known fact about Insectashell exoskeletons is that while their primary exoskeletons are living tissue, there secondary exoskeletons are technically dead, dying within minutes of being separated from the main body. The dead tissue can still transmit limited pain and feeling signals to the Insectashell connected to them but their ability to heal damage to them is a lot more limited.

-While it is possible for Insectashell’s to inherit wings from their parents or develop wings during their Infancy, it’s quite uncommon for them to do so. Also even among Insectashells that retain their wings until adulthood very few of them can actually fly and those that can almost always need to abandon their exoskeletons in order to do so as they will usually weigh their bodies down too much to achieve any lift.

-Insectashells cannot attach themselves to exoskeletons made by other Insectashells, only ones they made themselves.

-Insectashells use their antennae to hear, though some Insectashells have developed the ability to use them in other ways as well. This means that if an Insectashell somehow loses there antennae they’ll become deaf and lose any extra ability’s they may have developed using them.

-Some notable uses other species have used discarded exoskeletons for are (but not limited to): Modified to be used as a body for Head Hunters, Cut up to be used as armor plating, Melted down and combined with various materials to create an organic alloy metal, rigged with various machinery so it can be used as Exo-armor for smaller species, cut in half and used as a mold.

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This is an open spicis made for floraverse that ANYONE can use

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them

was created by purplekecleon
The Insectashell spices was created by me

Zip file containing the full sized individual images that were used for the Ref. sheet (in case they want that): Coming very soon

Description

Basic Info*: Insectashells are insectoid creatures who are unique in that they typically have 3 skeletons. A weak endoskeleton that serves to help support Insectashell’s inner body structure and allow Insectashells to support their body’s even when they have been forced to completely abandon their exoskeletons. A primary exoskeleton that serves the same function that the exoskeletons of most insectoid species do.

They are also capable of creating a secondary exoskeleton by separating their primary exoskeleton from their bodies and allowing it to expand before reconnecting their bodies to it using special hair like tendons that grow all over the main body of Insectashell’s to use as a type of exo-suit armour before growing a new primary exoskeleton allowing them to use 2 exoskeletons at once.

While it is technically possible for an Insectashell to use a secondary exoskeleton without connecting its body to them, doing so make them much easier to use and prevents them from slowly rotting away. It usually takes an Insectashell about a mouth to grow a new high quality exoskeleton from scratch, but it’s possible to grow a crappy one in as little as a week, though crappy ones tend to be fragile, don’t protect the body as well, have noticeable flaws, and don’t last nearly as long as high quality ones. While growing a new exoskeleton Insectashell’s will typically try to move as little as possible as moving a lot can impair the overall quality of the developing exoskeleton or cause it to grow malformed. Insectashells will typically replace their exoskeletons every 6 to 8 years for various reasons.

They are capable of discarding there exoskeletons completely, but rarely do so without a very good reason. This is at least partly due to the fact that while there exoskeletons are very good at protecting their main bodies, being resistant to most elements and blunt force trauma; their main bodies are very easily injured and weak to most elements that they don’t have an affinity to. Insectashells tend to become extremely nervous, timid, and self conscious about their appearance when without an exoskeleton and will go out of their way to avoid being seen.

High quality discarded Insectashell exoskeletons are slow to deteriorate. A high quality exoskeleton can take several years to show signs of noticeable decay. As a result of how strong they are, and how long they take to deteriorate they are highly sought after by other species for various reasons. However due to the fact that many Insectashells tend to keep their old exoskeleton’s after they’ve been detached for sentimental reasons instead of throwing them out means that discarded exoskeletons can be hard to come by and thus are very valuable. Most Insectashells are aware of this fact and at least a few are known to sell their exoskeletons for premium prices as a source of primary income.

*Note: The above info relates mostly to Adult Insectashells, for more info on Laval, Infant, Adolescent, & Elder Insectashell’s see the “Life Cycle & Physiology” section below

Diet: Insectashells are technically omnivorous and thus are able to safely eat most types of non-toxic food. However their digestive juices are extremely weak when it comes to dissolving hard foods. As a result of this, along with the fact that growing new exoskeletons can cause them to become dehydrated if they don’t take in enough fluids and that it’s common for Insectashell’s to have week or non-existent teeth, most Insectashell’s survive of a diet of mostly liquids with the occasional soft and/or juicy food item. Reports of Insectashell’s with more, unique diets have occasionally been reported.

Size: Newborn Insectashell’s are usually a little smaller than a foot in height. By the time they reach adulthood they are usually within the 6 - 8 foot range in height while using 2 exoskeletons, though some as small as 4 feet tall and as big as 10 feet tall are also known to exist. Insectashells are usually roughly half a foot smaller without their exoskeletons.

Common elements: Most Insectashells have the Clay element, as it’s easy for them to pick up and easily passed down to their offspring. Earth and PSI are also common affinities among Insectashells but not nearly as much so as Clay. It is very rare for Insectashells to be born with an affinity for any other elements, but it is possible for them to develop other affinities over time.

Hereditary magic: Insectashells are generally not very good at utilizing magic. Some Insectashells have been known to use a special technique to work elemental energy from the surrounding area into developing exoskeletons in an effort to make them more resistant to damage, or to further customize them to their liking. But this practise is far from common place due to the fact that doing so is extraordinarily difficult without abandoning at least their secondary exoskeletons. First, it slows down the development of new exoskeletons, and because it takes years of practise to master the skills to safely infuse the elemental energy without damaging the developing exoskeletons or inadvertently harming the main body. Element infused exoskeletons will usually retain their infused elements until long after they have been abandoned and deteriorated into dust.

Elemental weaknesses/resistances:

Most Insectashell exoskeletons are usually at least somewhat resistant to most elements (with a few notable exceptions listed below). Exactly how resistant they are varies depending on the individual exoskeleton and the Insectashell who made it. While Insectashell exoskeletons can help protect the inner body inside, if for some reason an Insectashell with no exoskeletons is suddenly exposed to large amounts of any element they do not have an affinity with the shock can seriously harm the Insectashell due to the fact that (with the possible exception of PSI) their main bodies are born with no elemental residencies. That said it is possible for Insectashells to develop resistances to certain elements if they are gradually exposed to them over a long periods of time. Below are a list of particularly notable elements when it comes to Insectashell’s and there exoskeletons

Water: Insectashell’s exoskeletons usually cannot be damaged by water. But there secondary exoskeletons can still let in water through various holes and joints which can build up in the space between there exoskeletons and their main body. Usually this is nothing more than a minor annoyance as wile this can hinder their ability to move somewhat it usually won’t harm them and will eventually drain out once they’re out of the water. However this can be dangerous if an Insectashell needs to swim as the trapped water can weigh them down if they can’t abandon their exoskeletons quickly enough.

Fire: Insectashell exoskeletons are somewhat resistant to fire in a similar manner to how they resist most other elements. However this resistance has its limitations and the exoskeletons are unable to protect the main body from extreme heat generated from the fire. Prolonged exposure can often end up permanently damaging the tendons that Insectashells use to attach themselves to their exoskeletons, and direct exposure to a Insectashell’s main body can potentially kill them within as short a time span of as a few seconds

Ice: It is difficult to seriously damage Insectashell exoskeletons with ice. It is not uncommon for them to begin to freeze making them heavier and also making it harder for the inner body to move. Furthermore they cannot protect the inner body from the cold temperatures that emanate from the ice. If an Insectashell becomes too cold, it’s body’s metabolism will start to slow down and its ability to perform basic functions becomes hindered. If this happens and they are unable to get out of the cold fast enough it can result in permanent brain damage or even death.

Acid: This is the one element that insectashell exoskeletons are weak to. Exposure to Acid will weaken Insectashell exoskeletons and prolonged exposure can easily damage, if not completely destroy the exoskeletons. Damage to Insectashell exoskeletons caused by acid is extremely difficult to repair and will often times result in the main body being forced to abandon the exoskeletons altogether in favor of growing a new 1’s. If an Insectashell is exposed to acid while without it’s exoskeletons it can cause severe skin burns and prolonged exposure can potentially damage the tendons they use to attach themselves to their exoskeletons.

Common locations: No one really remembers were Insectashells originally came from, and considering that they can be found almost anywhere that isn’t too hot or cold for them to survive no one really cares that much. However Insectashells are particularly common place in Mew York City.

Climate preferences: Insectashells aren’t too picky in regards to where they are willing to live and can be found almost anywhere that isn’t to too hot & dry for them to stay hydrated, or too cold for them to survive. They are fine as long as the environment around them doesn’t inhibit or prevent them from growing or maintaining their exoskeletons.

Ability to Plan & Abstract: Insectashells are considered by most to be a highly intelligent species. While the level of intelligence varies from individual to individual, all of them are capable of at least basic level thinking with the ability to rationalize, understand basic concepts and principles, and learn new things. However the vast majority of them are far more intelligent than that.

Language: Most Insectashells now a day’s speck Common as their first language. However Insectashells are able to learn nearly any type of language without too much hassle so long as there given enough time to do so. Insectashells used to have their own language commonly referred to as Insectaclick for the fact that it's comprised of a bunch of varying clicking & hissing sounds which is unique to their species. However as they started doing business with other species this language started being used less and due to the fact that for other spices it's difficult to understand and almost impossible to speak. Meeting a Insectashell in this day and age who is fluent in Insectaclick is considered a novelty.

Life Cycle & Physiology:

Larval: Insectashells are born with one small round & very thick exoskeleton with no joints, with holes for the eyes, a bigger hole for the mouth, and 1 last small hole in the back for waste removal which is detached from their main body which have yet to fully develop a solid from or endoskeleton. In this state they are unable to move very much and so it is up to their parents to ensure the larval Insectashell’s basic needs are met and to protect them from harm during this stage in their life as apart from there exoskeleton they are completely defenceless. They remain like this until they reach roughly 7-8 mouths of age at which point their main bodies have grown and developed to the point where they are able to break out of there exoskeleton and move onto the next stage of their life.

Infant: After breaking out of there first exoskeleton Insectashells will start rapidly growing and shedding new exoskeletons every few weeks, for the next 4 - 5 years. During this time they learn to master their body’s basic functions including those that will allow them to manipulate there exoskeletons at will. They also learn some of the basic knowledge that they’ll need later on in life. At this point in their lives they have the ability to create and discard new exoskeletons at an accelerated rate, however they lack the ability to properly grow or use a secondary exoskeleton. The exoskeletons they create during this stage in life are often malformed, very fragile and easily broken and as a result of this Infant Insectashells relay on their parents to protect them from harm as for the most part they are still unable to do so themselves.

During this stage of their lives they are able to alter the shape of their main body over time to the point where when they reach Adolescence there body shape can potentially be quite different than those of their parents. There endoskeletons, while somewhat developed are very rubbery and malleable due to the fact that Infant Insectashell bodies are still developing and without an exoskeleton to support their main bodies are unable to support a solid inner form.

Adolescences: By the time they reach the age of 5 and a half to 6 years of age Insectashells have developed exoskeletons with a near finalized body shape but still possess a limited ability to alter it somewhat. They have also more or less mastered most of their body's basic functionalities and their exoskeletons have fully developed. The speed of their development slows down a bit allowing adolescent Insectashells to create more solid exoskeletons that will function more like the ones that they will use later on in life. These exoskeletons are still not as strong as those that they will be able to make as an adult and have to be shed every 5 to 7 months due to their still developing bodies slowly growing larger. They gradually gain the ability to use their species signature ability to create and use a secondary exoskeleton, but will be unable to properly maintain and use said exoskeletons for long periods of time until they become adults. Usually sometime between the ages of 13 to 15 years of age they end up going into a state of hibernation for a week or 2 during which there body’s undergo their final adjustments as they transition into adulthood.

Adults: After their hibernation state ends they wake up as fully grown (at least in terms of physiology) adults. The primary exoskeleton they were using prior to waking up as an adult has disengaged from their main body and has transitioned into a secondary exoskeleton witch the Insectashell will usually continue to use for the next few months until they can grow a better one. This is the only stage of their lives were they can bread.

Elders: As Insectashells reach their elder years they lose their ability to reproduce, their endoskeleton gradually begins to fail them, and it starts to become harder for them to grow new exoskeletons. To compensate they will usually retreat somewhere private were they feel safe for a few months as they attempt to thicken their primary exoskeleton as much as they can before partially absorbing said exoskeleton into their body so that they can fuse it to their weakening endoskeleton. Doing so reinforces their bodies and allows them to use less energy to maintain their exoskeleton. But it also means that they can no longer grow any new exoskeletons or connect themselves to a secondary one. As a result of this they will use this fused skeleton until the end of their life.

Breading Cycle and Compatibility: Insectashells are able to bread with any insectoid spices with at least a somewhat similar body shape to the Insectashell in question however they are able to bread with certain other non-insectoid spices so long as their body shape is similar to the Insectashell in question.

In order to bread Insectashell's must abandon both of their exoskeletons making their main body vulnerable. This makes it so that Insectashells are hesitant to bread with anyone they don’t truly trust, and wish to raise a child with the individual they plan to bread with. After breading Insectashells will typically retreat somewhere where they feel safe, to hide out for at least several mouths until they can create some new exoskeletons to replace the ones they abandoned to bread.

Pregnant Females will develop large exoskeletons of lesser quality and stay in hiding until their new child is born. This is so that they can protect their bodies while allocating most of its resources to the development of her unborn child to properly develop in the womb. It takes roughly 3 mouths of development before the child is ready to be born. At this time the female will abandon her exoskeletons so that she may safely give birth to her child. Once her child is born the female will usually pass off all child rearing responsibility to her mate for the next several months while she grows some new exoskeletons for herself.

Head Hunters: It is almost impossible for Head Hunters to possess Insectashell bodies while they’re inside their exoskeletons. It is possible for them possess Insectashell bodies that are not in exoskeletons. But it is difficult to do so as the main bodies of Insectashells are quick to decay after death when outside their exoskeletons. They are also not very desirable for Head Hunters due to the fact that once they die they lose the ability to grow or maintain an exoskeleton, the bodies tend to be weak and easily damaged, and worse yet even when attached using a scarf the bodies rarely last move them a year before becoming unusable. They usually adapt to such bodies by losing their fur/feathers & growing antennae.

Some discarded Insectashell exoskeletons can be modified so that it’s possible for Head Hunters to possess them as bodies. Head Hunters possessing modified Insectashell exoskeletons adapt to them by slightly changing colour to better match their new body but besides this for the most part they remain as they were beforehand. Head Hunters often state that discarded Insectashell exoskeletons feel hollow and that they can be hard to get used to. However when attached via scarf discarded Insectashell exoskeletons can be difficult to damage by anything besides acid and thanks to their already slow rate of decay can often last a very, VERY, long time.

Trivia:

-A little known fact about Insectashell exoskeletons is that while their primary exoskeletons are living tissue, there secondary exoskeletons are technically dead, dying within minutes of being separated from the main body. The dead tissue can still transmit limited pain and feeling signals to the Insectashell connected to them but their ability to heal damage to them is a lot more limited.

-While it is possible for Insectashell’s to inherit wings from their parents or develop wings during their Infancy, it’s quite uncommon for them to do so. Also even among Insectashells that retain their wings until adulthood very few of them can actually fly and those that can almost always need to abandon their exoskeletons in order to do so as they will usually weigh their bodies down too much to achieve any lift.

-Insectashells cannot attach themselves to exoskeletons made by other Insectashells, only ones they made themselves.

-Insectashells use their antennae to hear, though some Insectashells have developed the ability to use them in other ways as well. This means that if an Insectashell somehow loses there antennae they’ll become deaf and lose any extra ability’s they may have developed using them.

-Some notable uses other species have used discarded exoskeletons for are (but not limited to): Modified to be used as a body for Head Hunters, Cut up to be used as armor plating, Melted down and combined with various materials to create an organic alloy metal, rigged with various machinery so it can be used as Exo-armor for smaller species, cut in half and used as a mold.

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This is an open spicis made for floraverse that ANYONE can use

If you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them

was created by purplekecleon
The Insectashell spices was created by me

Zip file containing the full sized individual images that were used for the Ref. sheet (in case they want that): Coming very soon