Deltan The Deltans were a humanoid species originating from the Federation planet Delta IV . Deltans were identified by their bald scalps and were known to wear head dresses . Their strong sexual attraction could be a distraction for members of other species , which is why Deltans swore an oath of celibacy upon entering service in Starfleet . ( ; ; ) While Deltans had pain - relieving abilities that manifested during tactile contact , this ability did not heal injuries . ( " " ) History . In 2141 , the encountered a group of Deltans . Travis Mayweather , who was fifteen at the time , later described them as very attractive and very open . On the advice and invitation of his father , he dealt with the feelings they engendered in him by performing exhausting workouts in the gym , a method he returned to ( and recommended to Lt . Malcolm Reed ) while three Orion slave girl s were " guests " aboard in December 2154 . ( ) One Deltan , Starfleet Lieutenant Ilia , made direct contact with the " V ' ger " entity when it approached Earth in the 2270s , whereupon she was listed as missing in action . ( ) Another Deltan served as an officer aboard the in 2285 . ( ) Four male Deltan ambassador s later served on the Federation Council in 2286 . ( ) Appendices . Background information . Deltans were originally to have been part of the ultimately scrapped series " " . The writers / directors guide for that series stated , " " The Deltan race is much older than Human s , with brains much more finely evolved in areas of art and mathematics , " " and postulated that all Deltans were " completely hairless except for the eyes . " The guide also suggested that " esper " abilities were common to the Deltans living on their homeworld and that , in their culture , virtually everything ( i . e . all social interaction ) was sex - oriented , with sexual foreplay consisting " largely of lovers placing images in each other ' s minds . " ( " " , pp . 90 - 91 ) A character study of Lt . Ilia , written by Gene Roddenberry for , included more information about the Deltan race , stating , " " Deltans , at first impression , may seem to be proudly aloof . However , a quick - eyed observer becomes immediately aware that Deltans actually have a splendidly developed sense of humor and fun lying immediately beneath that poised exterior . Their graceful carriage has lured many a Human into believing them cool intellectuals , only to discover that the Deltan is enjoying a good - humored joke at that Human ' s expense . Unlike the Vulcan race , Deltans value and delight in emotion – they see emotion as one of the myriad delights of being a life form . They are a sensual race – they enjoy the sensation of feeling hunger and fulfilling appetite in every form from satisfying their palates with exquisite foods , to the caress of a warm breeze or the bite of a bitter wind , the touch of an infant ' s hand , and especially all the shared communications and physical sensations of acts of love . Along its path to individual awareness , all the five ( perhaps six ) senses of the Deltan become highly acute and sensitive . Their taste buds , the rods and cones of their inner eyes , even their smallest epidermal nerve ending , all are sensitive far beyond the Human norm . " " The same character study also mentioned historical similarities between the civilizations of Earth and the Deltan homeworld and that the Deltans " long ago lost their interest in space voyaging ( concentrating on their own inner - space ) , " so that , by the time of " The Motion Picture " s setting , there were only a few Deltans who had joined Starfleet , even though " " the highly evolved Deltan intelligence can handle the most complex spherical trigonometric complexities of space navigation as easily as a Human learns simple multiplication tables . " " ( " " , pp . 107 - 108 ) Deltans were additionally mentioned in notes that Costume Designer Robert Fletcher wrote about the aliens in " The Motion Picture " . The note specifically concerning the Deltans described them thus ; " " Hairless people from Planet Delta IV . Deltans are great jewelry makers . Their jewelry is sold throughout the galaxy and is very popular . " " In the same note , Fletcher went on to state some plans for what a Deltan male would look like , despite the fact that Ilia is the only Deltan seen clearly in that particular film . This section read , " " Male Deltan wears traditional caftan with Deltan symbol on sleeve . Made of gabardine . " " ( " " , p . 133 ) During a press conference , Ilia actress Persis Khambatta playfully announced , " " Sex with a Deltan woman is like nirvana . After that no man can be satisfied with anyone else . The Deltan woman is so sophisticated sexually that any contact with a Human man would drive him insane . It ' s wonderful . " " After her hair was shaved off by makeup artist Fred Phillips , the Indian actress joked that the new bald appearance made her look like a Hare Krishna . ( ) In the script of , stage directions indicated that Project Genesis scientist Jedda was intended to be Deltan . In , an illustration of a female Deltan is visible when Data is assimilating the Dixon Hill novels . The illustration was captioned , " Deltan " . This illustration was from the FASA RPG module " The Federation " . Apocrypha . The Deltans ' strong sexual presence , even without physical contact , was explained by pheromone s and sub - conscious telepathy in Gene Roddenberry ' s novelization of " " . When Lt . Ilia first appeared in the novelization , James T . Kirk reflected that he seemed to instinctively perceive her as naked , despite the fact she was in uniform , and realized this illusion was due to her baldness . The expanded on the suggestion of Jedda being Deltan , adding a female Deltan partner . It was also said that sexual activity between a Deltan and a non - Deltan means risking insanity for the non - Deltan . According to the " " ( " United Federation of Planets I " ) , Delta IV joined the Federation in 2223 , the year the Deltans became warp - capable .