Doom Moth

**Doom Moths** (lesson on Tiktok) were first used in the arena of the 12th Annual Hunger Games. They were released as a tactic to drive tributes closer together, and were responsible for the elimination of the girl from District 10.

## Function and biology

### Description and ecology

Doom moths seem to be a cross between an oversized moth and a cicada, with females being much smaller than males. Due to their bigger size and strength, males are able to perform their natural behavior of digging or burying themselves underground, in which they can stay dormant for long periods of time. Females, however, have been purposely engineered to lack the ability to create burrows - but their natural drive to do so remains untouched. Due to this, female Doom moths look for alternative sites they can use as already made burrows - having a preference (perhaps purposely so) for a human’s ear canal.

Females are engineered to have a completely silent flight, while males can be extremely loud, similarly to a cicada.

### Use

These insects were modified to have an especially long proboscis, together with appendages they use to release pheromones. Once a female releases them, those can be detected by males from hundreds of meters away. Their drive to find a female is so strong, that it is enough to awaken them from their slumber almost immediately. Being a highly competitive species, all male doom moths will emerge from underground at the same time, in a race to get to the female first.

The swarm will surround the affected person's face, attempting to get to the female - however, due to their bigger size, they are not able to reach a female hiding inside an ear canal. Instead, the moths will land all over the victim's face, trying to find a way to get to the female, often using their proboscis to attempt to do so. As more and more land, the person usually suffocates in the process.

### Role in the war

Colonies of male doom moths were planted in strategic sites during the war, where they were kept underground, going unnoticed by the rebels. Those sites usually followed contained places such as buildings, where female doom moths could be released in a more controlled environment to target a specific person or group, without posing great risk of getting away and possibly reproducing outside of human control. While there have been incidents involving doom moths in the past, these mutts are engineered to have a very short lifespan, with most females passing away shortly after finding a burrow.

## Genetic content

Doom moths are very similar in appearance to a death's-head hawkmoth (*Acherontia* *atropos),* from who its exaggerated size and long tongue were engineered from and further enhanced. The genus this species is part of is also notable for being able of producing a squeaking sound from their pharynx, something very unusual for moths, that were optimized in the final version of this muttation. In addition to this sound, doom moths are also able to produce a very loud noise similar to a cicada's, another insect it owes big part of its genetic component to - having circular ridged membranes on the back and side surface of the first abdominal segment, doom moths are able to produce this sound by contracting the muscle attached to this membrane. Doom moths are able to produce both these sounds at the same time, which turns into an extremely loud and enervating noise, enough to disorient an person.

Their burying capacities are also due to their cicada genetic content, giving this male doom moths the strong legs of a cicada nymph that allows them to perform this behavior.

Additionally, a doom moth's ability to detect a female's pheromones from so far away comes from many moth species, such as the silk moth (*Bombyx mori*), being further enhanced in this mutt to allow for a greater distance for detection.

## The Hunger Games

### 12th Annual Hunger Games

During the events of the 12th Annual Hunger Games, Gamemakers announced that a swarm of insects were close to being awakened from their slumber and that all tributes that had stayed the previous night in the garden had been marked with a pheromone while they were asleep, that would attract the attention of the swarm. Just a few moments later, a loud noise suddenly took over the garden, growing stronger by the seconds. Holly and her two allies immediately ran inside the mansion, while the girl from District 10 - who had also been hiding in the garden - hesitated. As soon as the swarm emerged from under the ground, she started running immediately towards the door, but she missed one of the steps leading towards the entrance, causing her to twist her foot. The swarm quickly caught up to her, with some of the insects confusingly flying around her head, others landing on her face. It was a matter of seconds until they started landing all over her face as the swarm grew bigger, seemingly trying to get inside her ears. Holly, Banyan and Petiole watched the whole scene through one of the mansion's window, seeing how her face got completely covered by the insects until she suffocated to death.

After the fall of the District 10 tribute, the swarm quickly lost interest and began targeting Holly's alliance, desperately trying to pass through the door's and window's frames. Thankfully for them, the mansion was well sealed - but this drove the insects to swarm over the windows instead, completely covering all of the window's surfaces as they landed on them. They were so many, that they managed to deprive the inside of the mansion from any moonlight. As they walked through the mansion looking for a place to hide, they could see how every single window was covered by the moths still trying to get to them. This was the first time doom moths were used in the Hunger Games.

## Prevention

As female doom moths are usually released when their target are asleep, and their flight is completely silent, it is very difficult to avoid being targeted by one. One may use some sort of ear protection at all times just in case, though in situations like the Hunger Games, sacrificing one's auditory capabilities as a preventive measure is not recommended. Additionally, there have been cases of doom moths using nostrils as alternative burrows when access to the ear canal is not possible. The best strategy is to find cover as soon as one realises the presence of male doom moths.

Skilled swimmers and divers can use water to attempt to flush out the female, though usually the only sign of being marked by a female is the loud noise from males waking up from their slumber, which often is too late to act upon it. However, diving for a considerable amount of time can be a strategy to avoid allowing the males close, while also using the water to deodorize the pheromone's chemicals. If stronger cleaning products or repellents are available, those can also be used for the same purpose more efficiently.

Using fire can also help deter the moths, though a tribute must only do so as last resort, as it is difficult to create a controlled fire, and such can reveal one's location in the arena.