Silithid Silithid are an intelligent insectoid race that have grown in strength and power in recent years . They first appeared in the region called Silithus , but have since founded colonies in neighboring areas , usually far from native settlements . They sometimes prove impartial to travelers , but defend their territory ferociously from invaders . History . Scholars disagree on the origins of the Silithid . Some believe they are an offshoot of the arachnoid Nerubians , an insect race that mostly dwells in the northern regions of Azeroth . Others believe they are a new race heretofore unknown on Azeroth , possibly having arrived from another world elsewhere in the Twisting Nether , much as the orc s once did . Yet others posit that they are servants of the qiraji , and that their presence in Southern Kalimdor is a harbinger of the qiraji invasion . Before the Great Sundering , Kalimdor , the ancient continent of eternal starlight , was a nurturing mother to all of its creatures . At the continent ' s center was a mysterious lake of incandescent energies , the Well of Eternity . It was the true heart of the world ' s magic and natural power . From this magical ether the Silithid were born . As the fallen Old God C ' Thun recognized their appearance , he attempted to sunder the world that it once held in its merciless grasp . The Old God created avatars from the Silithid in its own image . These avatars were eventually known as Qiraji . Sapient , and over thousands of years , the Qiraji worked feverishly to build a force capable of laying waste to the world that would betray their god ; with the Silithids as their minions . Origins . The Silithids were formed from the Well of Eternity ' s energies , ( also known as the life essence of Azeroth ) . They are the first bugs to be , and from them came all known species of bugs and insects , even non Silithid bugs . The Silithid are not inherently evil or chaotic , though have close ties with the Qiraji who were formed by C ' thun . C ' thun was inspired by the Silithids appearance and construct and decided to make the Twin Emperors and the first Qiraji as Avatars of his own image . This is why the Qiraji and Silithids ( who are actually a relatively intelligent race of giant bugs ) get along so easily . Biology . To a humanoid ' s eyes , silithid are enormous bugs , most of man - size or larger , with powerful natural weapons at their disposal . They do not seem to use tools , although they do build structures out of natural materials using their bodily secretions . Silithid are capable of communicating by touching antennae to one another . They can also send simple messages to larger groups by sending out chemical signals in the air . Individual silithid possess a certain level of animal cunning , but are unintelligent . They exist to serve the hive , and are specialized in their roles . Wasps attack , tunnelers dig , reavers defend , swarmers train , queens lay eggs , and so on . A silithid instinctively gives its life for the colony . Silithid can range in size from a normal insect to gigantic . Size seems to depend on how long the Silithid are allowed to develop in their egg stage . It appears that size is also directly correlated with colony size . Castes . Most scholars agree that a silithid begins life by hatching from an egg . At this point the young silithid is a broodling — a larval state as yet unspecialized for any role in the hive . Eventually , the broodling encases itself in a cocoon and changes into its new form — a wasp , reaver , swarmer , or possibly some other as - yet unknown type of silithid . While silithids have not been a visible part of the world long enough for anyone to accurately gauge their lifespans , some researchers think that after achieving adulthood , a common silithid can live for up to 5 years , although queens can survive for decades . Locations . The Silithids burrow their underground hives all over southern Kalimdor . All of Silithus is under their control , and they have hives in Feralas , Tanaris , Un ' Goro Crater , and the Shimmering Flats . They ' ve even been sighted in small numbers in The Barrens . Most of these locations are deprived of water , and Silithid have been spotted at water posts in Tanaris . Perhaps their survival or nutrition relies heavily on water . Hives . The silithids build structures out of natural materials using their bodily secretions . Silithid hives are immense , alien affairs with towering antenna - like spires jutting out of the earth . In the maze of tunnels below , the creatures raise their young , tend to their wounded , manage food storage , and fend off invaders . Each of the three hives in Silithus has a crystalline prism in it . They are apparently a means for the Qiraji and other unknown entities to communicate various messages to the Silithid . Hunter pet . " Note : Silithid are an exotic beast , only tamable by beast master hunter s with . " Though hunter s can respec their pet silithid into Ferocity or Tenacity , they are inherently Cunning . In addition to the abilities that come standard with all pets ( and ) and those given to their natural or retrained specialization , all silithid are given the following : Subspecies . The subspecies below can be tamed by hunters . Named . " Mobs with level numbers are tamable . " Mount . Qiraji battle tank mounts rare drops in the Temple of Ahn ' Qiraj . They come in several colors : , , , and and can only be used inside the instance . There is also a , which can only be obtained during the War of the Shifting Sands . It is usable outside the instances , thus rare sightings of these mounts outside Ahn ' Qiraj are possible . Speculation . Origin . is that the avatars C ' Thun created from the Silithid were the Aqir , with the Qiraji and Nerubian s later splitting off and evolving differently . Another is that the Silithid and Aqir are in fact one in the same , and C ' Thun directly created the Qiraji from the Aqir . But despite evidence to support it , the latter is often dismissed due to an argument of intelligence and its controversy . Inspiration . Silithid are possibly inspired from the movie , in which insects ( called Arachnids ) battle with future humans in space . Many silithid features are very similar or identical to the movie ' s insects : Further evidence exists at Bootlegger Outpost in Tanaris . There is a quest involving capturing a Silithid and return to the camp to study it , and as the player return with the insect , one of the NPC ' s mind - reads the insect and says , " It ' s afraid , it ' s afraid ! " This is exactly what one of the characters in the end of the movie did and said . Similar suggestions have been put forth about the Zerg from Blizz ard ' s Starcraft series . Blizzard has also claimed that they derived inspiration from " Starship Troopers " for Starcraft ; the movie and Starcraft were in production at roughly the same time , and share many similarities . It has also been suggested that both Warcraft and Starcraft were derived from the Warhammer and Warhammer 40k franchises ( which are themselves derived from Lord of the Rings and Starship Troopers respectively ) , making the another potential source for inspiration . The silithids ' hives show similarities to the works of surrealist artist , and are possibly inspired by his work .