Post by Rose on Apr 4, 2007 14:55:55 GMT -5
Felucia Ground Beetle
Basic Information -
Homeworld: Felucia
Height: 4 meters long
Diet: Herbivore
Associations: Bly, Commander
The Felucia Star Corps of clone troopers assigned to Aayla Secura didn't solely rely on mechanized transports to move through the exotic wilderness of their colorful battlefront. The clones also employed these native gelatinous larva-like ground beetles as mounts. The rays that drench Felucia in golden sunlight have more intense concentrations of ultraviolet radiation than most habitable worlds. To compensate, much of Felucia's native life have developed one of two adaptations; in the case of the gelagrub, both adaptations are present in the creature's multi-stage life. As a larvae, the large gelagrub has a semi-translucent skin that can metabolize UV-filtering chemicals from the native plant life and distribute them to subdermal ducts. As such, the gelagrubs are constantly eating, maintaining its natural sunscreen in the process. When a gelagrub pupates and emerges as a hard-shelled ground beetle, its carapace is brilliantly reflective, bouncing back the worst of the sun's rays. Gelagrubs are most docile and easily domesticated during the larval stage, and were used by the Gossam colonists as well as clone trooper invaders as mounts.