Communal Janit

Towards the end of the last glaciation period, the humble janits, once a rather diverse group that diverged from the mainline wingworms, were very nearly driven towards extinction. Only the snowsculptor janit had managed to survive, and even then just barely, with two remote populations currently known to exist separated from one another by a vast expanse of ocean. While those on Drake continue to eke out an existence relatively unchanged from that of their ancestors, those on Fermi found themselves faced with a rather different situation. Their island home offered up a far harsher existence, one plagued by a shrinking coastline and ever increasing desertification that had been going on for over the last several thousand years. Under such conditions, as the island of Fermi continues to erode away into the sea, life was difficult to say the least, even for those such as the janits which are so low on the food chain. As is often the case, though, under such conditions when the specter of adversity rears its ugly head, species are often forced to either adapt or, should they fail to do so, risk dying out. As they hailed from the highly adaptive wingworms, those snowsculptor janits of Fermi were able to do just that.

The communal janits are the end result of these evolutionary pressures. Forsaking the frozen shores of Fermi for its more temperate ones, they have split from their ancestors and no longer dwell within the more polar climes as they once did. While this change arose due to the more plentifulness of available food within warmer climes, it also provided them an unprecedented opportunity for expansion - the seashrogs. Or, to be more accurate, the seashrog’s nests. Unintentionally stowing away on bits of foliage as these clever shrews went about constructing their floating homes, they wound up being brought aboard, whereupon they could feast on decaying bits of flora and food. As local currents brought these nests away from Fermi, they would inevitably wind up upon the shores of the driftwood islands, a massive expanses of floating debris located in the Jujubee ocean. With vast fields of puffgrasses to hide within, a plethora of decaying matter from which they could gorge upon, and, at that point in time, little in the ways of competition from similarly sized fauna like minikruggs, this region would be as a paradise for them to flourish in. From here, the driftwood islands would serve as a “staging point” of sorts, allowing the communal janits to spread globally as the occasional shrog or tamow would cast off from that place in search of distant shores, all awhile unconcerned with the little janits which would infest their nests.

Evolutionary Adaptations
Notably smaller in size compared to that of their ancestors, this adaptation within the communal janit originally arose on Fermi island, though it would go on to prove just as beneficial upon the driftwood islands and other regions. A smaller size meant a reduced weight placed upon their wing-derived limbs, which in turn allowed them to more quickly move about compared to the somewhat plodding movements of their ancestors. A smaller size also allows them to avoid direct competition with various beach-dwelling minikruggs and surf-venturing scuttlers on Fermi, while on the driftwood islands it allowed them to more easily maneuver themselves through the blades of puffgrass. It also provided an advantage when it came to avoiding the watchful gazes of various potential predators, such as the spinebacked probefaces or shorelances.

Perhaps the most notable evolutionary adaptation in the communal janits is more social than physical, though aspects of the former do influence the latter. Unlike other janits that came before, this particular lineage has evolved a more communal lifestyle. Because of the difficulties they faced - finding food, a mate, and overall just surviving both the elements and predators - the communal janit has evolved to overcome these hurdles by essentially sharing their burdens, whereupon while an individual may be at risk as it gathers and builds for others, the overall health of its colony as a whole is greatly improved. Of course, the process that led to this change was a slow one, with various dead ends arising as it was not uncommon for early colonies to collapse as individuals changed sexes and thus roles within their respective colonies, with little heed for the needs of the group beyond their own desire to pass down their genes. While this may have been beneficial for the individual, it harmed the collective effort, and it was not until this species managed to evolve a means of regulating this ability that these communities to become significantly more efficient.

Like with the snowsculptor janit and its ancestors, the communal janits begin their lives as females and only after some period time has passed they might transform into males. They are able to maintain some degree of control over this irreversible transformation, and do so in order to maintain a stable female-to-male ratio, typically 1-to-1. What separates them from that came before, however, is that in the communal janits, this ratio has been discarded and an additional step has been added. While they still start out as females, the older individuals that serve as the original founders of their colonies are able to influence the sex of their offspring. These females produce pheromones that encourage the younger generations to transition to male fairly quickly and regardless of how many older females are already present. The benefit of this is that the original females are able to focus on egg production and juvenile care. The primarily male “workers”, meanwhile, can instead focus on expanding the nest, gathering resources, and defending their kin, all while not expending valuable resources on egg production.

Colony Life
A colony such as this begins with a group of several females, known as founding matrons, who begin to construct a simple nest from available building materials - various stems and leave held together with a mixture of saliva, partially digested cellulose, and fecal matter - consisting of a singular dome surrounded by several smaller chambers. Once it is completed, if no outside males show up, at least one of the original founding matrons will instead transform into a male and fertilize all the others, and it is typically the largest of them that does this. This only needs to occur once, for the females are able to store the excess sperm and remain perpetually pregnant for the entirety of their five year lifespans. The subsequent eggs they produce are tended and cared for, with the resulting newborns - pale, semitransparent versions of the adults - being fed partially digested plant matter, scavenged flesh, and various bits of detritus in order to encourage a rapid growth. During this time, these juveniles are exposed to the matron’s pheromones, and are already undergoing the transformation into males. Once they are old enough, they will begin to tend to the nest via building new tunnels and chambers deeper down, heading out and gathering food, and taking over the care of both eggs and juveniles. Those that help to construct and expand the nest are known as builders, while those that head out in search of resources to gather are known as gatherers - both utilize the chemosensory cells in their legs in order to follow trails, essentially forming chains as multiple individuals continue to utilize the same pathways and thus deepen their "scent" along them.

These colonies flourish, but eventually, like all things, change must occur. When the last of the founding matrons finally dies, so does their control via pheromones. Any eggs that hatch during this time will not immediately begin to turn into males, and will instead remain female. The first few to hatch tend to become the new matrons of their colonies, while those who hatch later will often group up and head off in the hopes of starting new ones. Some older males will also wander off as well at roughly the same time. They seek out these wandering bands of matrons for the chance to father the next generation.