Perfume Krugg

Larval perfume kruggs differ from the adults in body shape, lifestyle, and diet. The larval perfume krugg lives in a pit in the soil, grabs and slices its minikrugg prey, and is largely immobile unless it is eating. The adult rests under stones, roots, or logs, wanders about on the soil, has a reduced appetite relative to the juvenile, and eats fruit. Due to changes in developmental timing, the larval perfume krugg resembles the adult of its species, rather than the thornworm as most krugg larvae do. The perfume krugg changes from its ancestral larval form to its modern larval form while still in the egg.

Adult males perfume kruggs dig many small pits in ideal spots. These spots are ideal in that they are easy to dig in, relatively protected from the rain, and are hidden by leaves, logs, or rotting material. (As no flora in the perfume krugg's habitat regularly shed their leaves, appropriately leafy spots are rare.) After digging these spots, the male will advertise himself by lifting his abdomen and wafting a 'perfume.' The perfume contains isoamyl acetate, an strongly odored compound that smells of pears and functions as a pheromone for perfume kruggs. Female perfume kruggs, drawn by the scent, approach the male and mate with him. They then lay eggs in the pits provided by the male, with one egg per pit.

Male perfume kruggs typically dig only eight pits at a time, and typically only eight of the female's eggs are fertilized per mating. However, females typically have one hundred and twenty eggs in her body at a time. Thus, to find enough pits, she has to mate with fifteen males. Occasionally she has an egg or two left over from a previous mating, so sometimes male perfume kruggs' pits are occupied by offspring that is not theirs. (They do not notice this, however.) Male perfume kruggs are able to count, to an extent: they stop digging pits once they have dug eight pits and will dig eight more pits when the previous set is filled with eggs.

Upon hatching, the larval perfume krugg expands the pit it was hatched in, enlarging the pit as it grows. The adults of most minikrugg species are too large for the perfume krugg to handle, so most of its prey consists of the smaller larvae of various minikrugg species. The larval perfume krugg's mandibles are too small and weak to break through minikrugg exoskeletons, so it breaks open exoskeletons with its pincer-like forelegs instead. Detritivorous tepoflora at the bottom of the pit feed on the perfume krugg's leftovers. In its final exoskeleton molt, the perfume krugg assumes adult proportions and leaves its pit.

The adult prefers soft, ripe fruits. It will also eat decayed fruits, even if those fruits contain alcohol. Its ability to tolerate alcohol sets it apart from battalion kruggs, which are also fruit-eaters but avoid alcohol. Adult male perfume kruggs require some alcohol in their diet for proper courtship, since they use alcohol as a carrier in their "perfume" and cannot make alcohol themselves.

The adult resembles its ancestor more than the larvae, differing in its longer, straighter legs, different claw configuration on its first and third pair of legs, broader thoracic segments, and having only eight body segments, rather than nine. (the head and end part counting as segments)