Isikulu

Name:  Isikulu
Alias:  MuravinoeThe Bone Snatcher
Type:  Insect
Notes:  A hive species, Isikulu, an ant-like organism, are similar to Nzumbe in they like to utilize a corpse to move the swarm around.  However, more general flesh eaters, Isikulu will strip a body, living or dead, of all tissue and only leave bones behind.  However, the Isikulu will come back to claim the bones later if they don't take them with them right off the back, which is likely if they are driven off before they can claim the bones after feasting.
Physiologically, Isikulu are considered a strain of ant-like insects.  While both Nzumbe worms and Isikulu ants utilize a form of distributed computing to increase intelligence of the swarm, the Isikulu 'hive mind' can be terminated if the Queen, the hive's 'brain bug', is killed.  As such, the Isikulu Queen is usually secreted away in a dark, cool, and most cave, mine shaft, or other safe location seperate from the swarm.  This renders a Isikulu swarm next to impossible to kill without killing the queen as the swarm can easily reform due to being comprised of countless Isikulu ants.
Isikulu earned the nickname of 'the Bone Collector' due to their absorption of the bones of their victims into the swarm's body with the individual ants acting as muscles and tendons.  When first encountered, Isikulu were thought to be individual creatures and not colony beings.  As such, encounters generated high levels of terror even among trained soldiers as they watched those around them fall one by one and their bones be absorbed.  The reason for collecting bones is unknown as, while the colony uses them to form a vaguely humanoid form, they don't limit themselves to only one set of bones and are more than willing to add more bones from additional individuals to their collection.
Category:Species
Category:Fauna