Stinging Glassball

The stinging glassball has replaced its ancestor in the Yokto High Desert and spread to the Yokto Rocky. It has adapted it’s shell to act as an even more effective deterrent. It still has large spikes over the surface of its shell but it also has thousands of tiny hair like structures. Each of these structures is less than 1mm long and contains a small amount of concentrated anti-freeze. When an animal rubs up against the glassball, the hairs are so fine that they easily penetrate the skin and detach themselves from the glassball. The anti-freeze inside them is injected into the skin causing a mild irritant. It does no long term damage to the creature but they quickly learn to leave these glassballs alone.

Its reproduction has advanced as well. It still buds asexually but it how has two stages. The first is when it is released from the parent plant. The offspring are small, crinkled and tough. It also contains a sweet tasting substance on the surface. This is designed to attract opportunists such as the funeral pipent and the scavengundi. The fauna eat the buds but only the sweet tasting outer shell can be digested. The rest of the bud gets passed through the digestive system and deposited in fertile dung. Here, the bud will start to grow just as its ancestors did.

Their success in the high desert has allowed the stinging glassball to spread into Yokto Rocky where not even the scavengundi will attempt to disturb an adult glassball from fear of the sting.