Whipcraw

Disclaimer: Whipcraw are a fictional clade of animal from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere.

### Description

Whipcraw are insects in the order Caudomasta distinguished by powerful mandibles, a lack of (or divergently evolved) wings, and often times a long whip-like telson, for which they get their name. They are extreme generalists, able to metabolize almost any organic material and are found in near every terrestrial biome on Kaimere. They are also some of the only insects to become fully aquatic.

### Phylogeny

  Whipcraw appear to be the first clade of exclusively-kaimeran insects to radiate. their ancestors were some of the most primitive insects harvested during Earth's late devonian and are so distant that they have no Earth relatives, despite superficial appearance to Earth Silverfish.

There are five main clades of Whipcraw, of those being the basal whipcraw, the Shieldcraw, the Whip Lobsters, The Crab Craw, and the Gemweavers.

Basal Whipcraw resemble archaeognathes with longer back legs and are generalists.

Shieldcraw, so named for their round bossed carapaces are a clade of Whipcraw notable for having among the hardest carapaces, being partially mineralized, unusual for terrestrial arthropods. Though rare in the known world, presumably due to the ashes which hit so many clades in the Known World after the Dynastic Extinction, they are much more common in Kairul.

Whip Lobsters are a lineage of whipcraw developed massive forearms. Some used these as a fossorial apparatus, with some burrowing into soil, plants or fungi, as animal parasites, and the largest returned to water as aquatic ambush predators and detritovores.

  Crabcraws (Family: Coniferphthiridae) are whipcraw that severely atrophied their tails as they specialized in feeding on moss and tree sap. They were initially mistaken by the Great Library and Assembly as a type of conifer mite. Crabcraw are among the most abundant insects of Kaishel and Pakardia owing in no small part to being able to survive in stasis through the coldest months. They have been outcompeted in the tropics by more recent insects, though in the temperate and sub polar zones they dominate. Though they lack the complex social structure of conifer mites, termites, and wasps, they do tend to congregate in large groups and are considered eusocial despite hives in the hundreds or thousands, not millions.

Gemweavers are believed to be the first eusocial insects, at least the first to evolve on Kaimere, which they did back during the First Dynasty. They appear almost indistinguishable in modern times as their fossils do over three hundred million years ago. They produce silk which they use to construct elaborate nests. This silk is analogous to that of silkworms, though having different organs for a strong core and adhesive outer layer that can be mixed at differing quantities for highly versatile strength and flexibility makes them more similar to that of spiders. Each species constructs unique nest styles, often being an adhesive for a foundation of sticks, leaves, and even bones. Gemweavers have a single pair of simple wings which they use to supplement launches between branches while making these nests. They could also speak to whipcraw being much more derived than their basal bodyplans might otherwise suggest. Perhaps they are descended from the most ancient pterygotes and most lineages lost their wings upon arriving in Kaimere, or maybe the wings evolved independently. Some think Gemweavers may only resemble other whipcraw through convergent evolution, though they are usually found nested in the group. For now, the leading theory is whipcraw as a whole are descended from stem pterygotes and most lost their wings due to the relative lack of competition in this vacant planet, though this may change with future studies.

### Human Relations

Like insects of Earth, Whipcraw are used in all sorts of ways by people, being eaten, domesticated for silk, welcomed into settlements for cleanup of garbage and gutters, etc.

  Gemweavers specifically were a favorite of the First Children, who domesticated a marsh species in their Crescent outposts and used their silk for a majority of their clothing. Many of these now-feral domesticates can be found throughout the known world, with the most abundant and successful being in the Seridic wetlands, where they have been re-domesticated and are used in clothing, tools, and even construction.