Homeworld: alixxion

Language: A series of clicks and pheromones

Total Population: 3.2 Million

Culture: culture

The Wruuph are an Insectoid colony species which is in a symbiotic relationship with the Suu, as they have a common ancestor which they evolved from, one side favouring the abundant vegetation, the other favouring the more nutrient meat. The Wruuph are war-like and more violent in nature, they use weapons to train, fight the enemy and for fun, but it is not needed on their planet anymore as the surface animals have been tamed by the Suu, this has helped the carnivorous Wruuph as they get meat without having to lose any of the species. Believing that each animal is from one Great Spirit beast and that eating it gives them gifts from the spirits. Inside their hive the Wruuph are live in each area of the hive as all Wruuph are part of the royal army or are bodyguards for the higher ranks of both species.

The Wruuph evolved on a planet with ammonia-rich atmosphere and had little in the way of resources near the surface, the ecosystem on this planet has made the Wruuph stronger and more determined.

The Wruuph are between 7 foot to 12 foot from head to abdomen, and around 10 foot from head to ground. Their body has have four arms and four legs, their hands have three claw-like fingers making a sort of claw and have a tough exoskeleton that can take some damage like a built in armour, the Wruuph aren't that good-looking with their insectoid bodies but the Wruuph use pheromones that attract the opposite gender.

The Wruuph are fully carnivorous any vegetarian foods they eat comes back up quick quickly, they don't have a varied diet and can eat only eat meat.

The Wruuph are born in a larval stage that the parent look after till the larva turns to a young Wruuph, the parents both look after the larva as there is no discrimination between genders.

The others of the Suu empire are known as the Behimoni and the Suu.

The Wruuph are massive insectoid creatures, that come in a variety of different colours depending on their parents and what hive they come from.

The Wruuph have elongated heads that curve back, with thicker chitin protecting the back and sides keeping the face as exoskeleton. They have an antenna on each side of their head that follows the heads curve and their eyes are situated on the front of their heads slightly embedded into the exoskeleton.

Their head connects to their chest which has chitin covering the parts of the chest front where the vital organs are located, with four arms connected to the chest, two on the higher on the chest close to the head and two connected lower down just past half way down the chest, their arms have three joints, one connecting the arm to the body, one that is half way down their arm that allows their arms to be more movable and the last joint connects the arms to the three claw hands. The Wruuph also have wings that are long, veined and membranous, narrower at the tip and wider at the base. The hindwings are broader than the forewings and the venation is different at the base. The veins contain haemolymph and both stiffen and strengthen the wings. The leading edge of each wing has a node where other veins join the marginal vein, and the wing is able to flex at this point, the wings also have a protective shell that covers the wings when not in use.

Their abdomen is at a ninety degree angle to the rest of their body, this part is also covered in chitin for protection, with four legs spread out for stability, this part of their body is larger than the other two parts of the Suu's body. Like the arms the legs have special joints one called the Coxa that joins the leg to the abdomen, a smaller joint that between the 'coxa' and the 'femur'. The Femur is usually long and stouter than the other segments and contains the main muscles used in running, jumping and digging. The tibia is also generally long serving to increase the length of the leg, as well as adding an extra joint and thus extra flexibility. The claws attached to the legs are covered in a lot of tiny hairs to help with staying on even smooth substances.

The Wruuph have round head with the antennas on the top with a swept back look, the mouth of the Wruuph had four massive mandibles that rip their food into smaller more easily digestible bits, they have two compound eyes one on each side of their head.

The Wruuph have small antennae that follow the head back that give the Wruuph odorant receptors, which identify different aromatic compounds and pheromones; gustatory receptors, that distinguish between different tastes and react to some pheromones; and the ionotropic glutamate receptors, which are narrowly tuned to various poisonous and toxic compounds.

The Wruuph's compound eyes are composed of a number of individual lenses, rather than a single lens as in a human's eye, the number of separate visual elements in adults are 28,000 per single eye.

This creates a considerable difference in the presentation of light stimulus to the Wruuph's brain, however the ability of the Wruuph to navigate the world by means of visual stimuli suggest that they have overcome the problems inherent in this multi-faceted perception.

Much like human eyes, the eyes of the Wruuph, can be divided into four basic parts: the supportive material that keeps all the parts together; a light gathering part; a light receptor that converts the received light into electrical energy; and the nerves that carry the electrical impulses to the brain for analysis. In the compound eyes of Wruuph these parts are repeated numerous times side by side in a space saving hexagonal pattern.

The lens is formed by a transparent and colourless cuticle and it is usually biconvex, beneath this is the crystalline cone normally functions as a secondary lens.

The receptive parts of a Wruuph's eye are the retinula cells. Each ommatidium normally has eight retinula cells arranged to leave a central core space in the centre of the ommatidium, into which each retinula cell projects a series of microvilli, these microvilli are the actual light detecting part of the cells.

The corneal lens is supported by primary pigment cells and by secondary pigment cells. The retinula cells are connected to axons at the base of the eye, it is these which carry the information collected by the lenses and converted into electrical impulses to the brain, thus allowing the Suu to see.

The mandibles constitute the moveable aspects of the insect mouth, the mandibles are the equivalent of jaws with the exception that they move transversely.

Mandibles are used not only for feeding but also for attack and defence, and for manipulation of materials as in the nest building.

The Wruuph's thorax has the four arms of the species and the four wings, the thorax has the vital organs of the Wruuph under the thick exoskeleton and is vertical to the ground.

The thorax is the main engine room of the Wruuph. The thorax is built up of a series of concave upper and convex lower integumental plates. The thorax can be conveniently divided into three separate and normally easily visible sections called from the front, the prothorax the mesothorax and the metathorax.

• The Coxa, this is the most basal aspect of the arms and joins the leg to the abdomen.
• The Trochanter is usually small and serves as a joint between the coxa and the Humerus.
• The Humerus is usually long and stouter than the other segments and contains the main muscles used in digging, lifting and holding weapons if needed.
• The Radius is also generally long serving to increase the length of the leg, as well as adding an extra joint and thus extra flexibility and are connected to the hands.

• The Coxa, this is the most basal aspect of the arms and joins the leg to the abdomen.
• The Trochanter is usually small and serves as a joint between the coxa and the Humerus.
• The Humerus is usually long and stouter than the other segments and contains the main muscles used in digging, lifting and holding weapons if needed.
• The Radius is long and ends in a sharp point, the exoskeleton turns the Radius more into a slightly curved blade that can tuck into the rest of the upper arm when not in use.

The Wruuph's hand are two fingers one thumb.

The wings are long, veined and membranous, narrower at the tip and wider at the base. The hindwings are broader than the forewings and the venation is different at the base. The veins contain haemolymph and both stiffen and strengthen the wings. The leading edge of each wing has a node where other veins join the marginal vein, and the wing is able to flex at this point.

Wruuphs have a shell, or hard case, that protects their wings. The Elytra is exactly the same on the right side as it is on the left, they are a mirror image, or symmetrical, to one another.

The abdomen has the four legs spread apart or better stability, this is also where the Wruuph can store nutrients for later need, it is the biggest part of the Wruuph and is horizontal to the ground.

The abdomen is built up of a series of concave upper integumental plates and convex lower integumental plates, the whole being held together by a tough yet stretchable membrane. It contains the insect’s digestive tract and reproductive organs.

The legs are split into different parts.

• The Coxa, this is the most basal aspect of the leg and joins the leg to the abdomen.
• The Trochanter is usually small and serves as a joint between the 'coxa' and the 'femur'.
• The Femur is usually long and stouter than the other segments and contains the main muscles used in running, jumping and digging.
• The tibia is also generally long serving to increase the length of the leg, as well as adding an extra joint and thus extra flexibility.
• The Tarsus is the foot of the insect leg and can consist of five segments.
• The Claws are situated at the end of the tarsus and serve to assist the insect in holding onto a substrate. Between the claws may be found a special pad which acts using suction developed by large numbers of minute tubular hairs to help hold the insect to smooth substrates.

The Wruuph have an open circulatory system which differs in both structure and function from the closed circulatory system found in humans and other vertebrates. In a closed system, blood is always contained within vessels. In an open system, blood spends much of its time flowing freely within body cavities where it makes direct contact with all internal tissues and organs. The circulatory system is responsible for movement of nutrients, salts, hormones, and metabolic wastes throughout the Suu's body. In addition, it plays several critical roles in defence:

• It seals off wounds through a clotting reaction,
• It encapsulates and destroys internal parasites or other invaders,
• The hydraulic properties of blood are important as well. Hydrostatic pressure generated internally by muscle contraction is used to facilitate hatching, molting, and expansion of body after molting, physical movements, reproduction,
• Aids in thermoregulation, it can help cool the body by conducting excess heat away from active flight muscles or it can warm the body by collecting and circulating heat absorbed while basking in the sun.

A dorsal vessel is the major structural component of a Wruuph's circulatory system. This tube runs longitudinally through the thorax and abdomen, along the inside of the dorsal body wall, it is a fragile, membranous structure that collects haemolymphs in the abdomen and conducts it forward to the head.

The Wruuph's digestive system is a closed system, with one long enclosed coiled tube called the alimentary canal which runs lengthwise through the body. The alimentary canal only allows food to enter the mouth, and then gets processed as it travels through the body. The alimentary canal has specific sections for grinding and food storage, enzyme production and nutrient absorption. Sphincters control the food and fluid movement between three regions. The three regions include the foregut, the midgut, and the hindgut.

The male engages the female in courtship dance, to change her interest from feeding to mating. Courtship display has also been observed in other species, but it does not hold for all mantises.

The mating season in temperate climates typically begins in autumn. To mate following courtship, the male usually leaps onto the female’s back, and clasps her thorax with his forelegs. He then arches his abdomen to deposit and store sperm in a special chamber near the tip of the female’s abdomen. The female then lays between one to five eggs. Eggs are typically deposited in a frothy mass that is produced by glands in the abdomen. This froth then hardens, creating a protective capsule. The protective capsule and the egg mass is called an ootheca.

The race in general can live for around 100 years

When born to twenty five, the Wruuph are in the Nymph form and haven't fully developed wings or the size.

The nymph and adult insect are structurally quite similar, except that the nymph is smaller and has no wings or functional genitalia.

From twenty five to one hundred, the Wruuph work in this time helping the hive and only recently to other planets and stars as the warriors, the adults normally form tight bonds with the others in their crew or group depending on their work.