Dark Needleworm
The Dark Needleworm (Acutognathus tenebris) is a descendant of a few members of Acutognathus vaccapuella that drafted southwards through the channel of Zone 29 and became established in Zone M. There, they survived and reproduced as the seeds of False Cockti (Prolixa metriapatros) growing there were similar to their previous sources of food. It is different from its ancestor Acutognathus vaccapuella as its pigment has a higher concentration of melanin which gives its skin a darker tint in order to trap greater amounts of heat. This was beneficial as Zone M is somewhat south of Zone L in latitude, meaning that there is less sunlight and thus less warmth provided for a cold-blooded ectothermic body.
The Dark Needleworm grows to a maximum length of forty centimeters, although they may often be smaller due to them no longer requiring length to feed. Still, they will lightly lean their neck forwards in order to feed from the False Cockti that are shorter than the dominant polyphs that grow on their homeland, and they may hold onto the petals of the False Cockti using their graspers which are not fully opposable but close inwards and outwards. The claspers are red and made of chitin, the same material as the crest and needle. Although the Dark Needleworms are not as helpful at dispersing their seeds as Sexipede (Moraldubious patrawermis) due to their needles that are more effective at sucking up seeds, some seeds may still get stuck on the chitinous covering of the needle and get spread regardless.
Altough it has no natural predators, the Dark Needleworm still faces another problem: winter keeps its population in control nevertheless. As its environment is colder than up north, the winters on South Etelama are harsher and thus harder to survive in. Despite their heat-capturing mechanism, Dark Needleworms in the southern parts of Zone M all but die from the cold once this season arrives. Those in the northern parts do survive more often, but some may still die starving or enduring the cold. They feed off of seeds that are on the ground once the grown False Cockti die, and they may pack on some lipids to insulate their bodies from more sudden temperature changes and to feed their bodies whenever food is scarce.
Dark Needleworms mature within ten weeks (10 wks) of hatching from the egg and will mate with other members of their species whenever possible. Females lay around fifteen (15) eggs and can reproduce once a month when their egg stock is refilled. The exception to this is winter before the False Cockti start growing back, as reproducing takes up extra energy that could be used for survival otherwise. Dark Needleworms echolocate to process depth like how their ancestors do, doing so twice a second while foraging and once a second while feeding. Their echolocation is shut down while they are sleeping in their three-hour (3 hr) shifts as they are dormant at that time and do not have the need to detect their surroundings.
