Mantoids

Mantoids are a tauric race of hybrids related to praying mantises, and have quite a few traits in common with them. They are predatory by nature and extremely voracious, tending to eat just about anything they can, even their own species, although this gruesome cannibalism is usually saved as a last resort. Mantoids are bold creatures that will even attempt to attack other predators up to fifty percent larger than themselves, such as larger harpies! In fact, they even prefer to do so as a larger prey provides greater nutrition as well as a greater thrill to hunt. Needless to say, they do not handle hunger very well and the term "friend" should be applied loosely to those who find themselves in such a position.


Mantoids have a deep hatred toward slug girls, as they react badly to an enzyme located in the slug girls' mucus trail. Contact or even close exposure to the mucus has been known to give them painful headaches, weakness, and on extreme circumstances,  cause death. As such, they tend to attack them on sight, but dare not eat them. They also seem to harbor a strange desire to hunt and eat dridders, although the reason is unknown. Confrontation with dridders usually ends in hostility, as dridders hate mantoids immensely because mantoids hunt them.


The greatest weapon in a mantoid's arsenal is stealth. Although not every subspecies of mantoid can change their color like a chameleon (some can) , all mantoids learn to blend in with their surroundings quite efficiently. Often they will lie in wait, sometimes for hours or days at a time, in a place which matches their own colors, waiting for prey to wander too close. They will slash out with their sharp bladed arms and legs, aiming for vital arteries to instantly kill or prohibit the movement of their prey. Additionally,  some mantoids have developed paralytic poison nodes in their appendage blades, which can immobilize a victim in a matter of seconds. It is rumored that some mantoids have shrinking poison instead, but of course there is no proof of this. Mantoids also possess the ability to fly, but they do not prefer doing so, as it leaves them extremely vulnerable to attack from other predators.


Perhaps the largest rumor regarding mantoids is with regards to their mating rituals. It is said that after mating, the female mantoid will always consume the male. While this is commonly the case, it is not always true. While males are known to be relatively timid and submissive in a relationship, the females are not bloodthirsty villains. What has been discovered, is that during mating, an unknown enzyme is released in females that increases arousal and chance of conception. This enzyme seems to also heighten levels of aggression and hunger. Since this is in addition to any pre-existing conditions the female is under, an already hungry or aggressive female can become a danger to her mate. Mantoids are not oblivious to this fact, and many times it has been observed that a male mantoid will stay away from the female if he knows she has not eaten recently. Still, the effect of this enzyme varies between individual females and sub-species of mantoid, and there have been cases of a well fed female devouring her mate anyway. In some mantoids, the effect of this enzyme is so vital to the females survival that the "sexual cannibalism" effect is guaranteed. Because so much energy is required quickly after fertilization, the female must eat her partner in order to survive. If she does not, her own death, and the death of her unborn children, is almost certain. It has been said that there is a joke among some male mantoids that they have to "spin the Guillotine wheel." Other mantoids consider knowingly sacrificing themselves to their mates one of the greatest acts of true love he can do.