Dracoaranea (Acroaraneopteryx) mellivora

***Dracoaranea (Acroaraneopteryx) mellivora*** is a small social Araneopterinae, found in the northeastern and southern archipelagos of Media Insula.

## diet

This taxon has developed a strong relationship with the celestiphyte *Xenonectaris sylvaticus*, which they cultivate for their sweet excretions called melliculum. The two species entirely rely on one another for survival and are not found anywhere except alongside each other. *D. mellivora* hunt or scavenge for other small terrestrial dispeculates, as well as excrements from larger beings, to process it into a fertile paste, which they lay onto the *X. sylvaticus*’ roots. This way it can feed off its nutrients and produce the melliculum. Colonies have been observed to selectively choose specific foods to alter the composition of this sweet substance and enhance the fertility of the colony’s reproductives.

## Identification

*D. mellivora* is one of the smallest members of Araneopterinae, with adults only reaching 9.5-12 cm in wingspan. This species possesses large compound eyes which give it great eyesight for spotting prey. The limbs are long, thin and capable of gripping onto vertical surfaces (thanks to a pair of hooks on their ends), with spiked raptorial front legs for digging and hunting. The third pair has instead been flattened into a pair of flying wings, as in most members of the subfamily, while the rest is used for fast locomotion on land. This taxon isn’t a very good flier though, and is only capable of gliding from bone tree to bone tree. Body armor is soft on the sides, but very strong on the top, with spikes coming out laterally and vertically from the upper plates. Two of the three mouthparts have been adapted for communication between individuals, which happens by touching each other’s specialized parts and sometimes exchanging food through them. Most specimens have a yellow-brown coloration, with darker colors where the armor is thicker and lighter ones where it’s thin. The only exception is represented by the wings, which are hollow on the inside and therefore retain a relatively light coloration.

## life cycle

Like most members of its subfamily, D. mellivora is an obligate parthenogenetic, with reproductives giving birth to small, flightless nymphs. These are initially encased in a soft eggshell that they quickly molt out of and consume. Right after molting their outer shell is quite soft, leaving them exposed to predators, and it can take several hours (depending on the size and instar of the individual) for it to fully harden via a chemical process. Within a period of roughly half a year, the nymphs will go through 5 more molts in order to reach their full size and become adult reproductives, which either assume their birth giving role in their original colony or create one of their own.

## biology

During the warmest periods of the year, inactive reproductives leave the nest with a *Xenonectaris* spore in their mouthparts. Once they’ve dug themselves a chamber under the outer layer of a bone tree, they plant the spore, which they keep grooming and caring for, using their fat reserves as food, until the first nymphs are born. These juvenile castes replace the reproductive/s in taking care of the *X. sylvaticus* and nest, and also start foraging and scouting missions in the canopy (a role that will eventually be taken on by the subadults, which are bigger, better armed and armored, as well as capable of flight). As the X. *sylvaticus* mature, they start producing spores, which are taken by the nymphs and placed onto the expanding nest’s walls so that they can grow. Colonies of *D. mellivora* usually reach numbers of around 600 members (although some families have been recorded to exceed the 1000 individual mark) with several active reproductives fulfilling the role of giving birth.