The Late Cimexian

Sentirecimexes (Feeling Bugs) represents one of the most ecologically successful early clades of scuttlebugs to emerge during the mid-Cimexian Epoch. Distinguished by their sensory appendages, these creatures evolved to thrive in environments rich in decaying organic matter, fungal mats, and detritus-heavy forest floors. While they remained small, ranging from a few millimeters to a few centimeters in length, their intricate behaviors, specialized limbs, and diverse feeding strategies placed them among the most prevalent of the early terrestrial fauna on Atmos.

The most defining feature of the sentirecimexes is the transformation of their upper limbs into elongated, flexible, tactile antennae positioned adjacent to the mouth. These whip-like structures are covered in sensitive chemo- and mechanoreceptors, allowing them to “feel” their way through dark or cluttered environments with precision. Rather than relying on visual cues, most species used these limbs to map their surroundings, taste the air, and detect fungal growths or decaying matter from several centimeters away. 

Their forward thorax also became more rigid, providing support for their muscular grasping limbs just below the antennae, which were used to manipulate food, climb, or sweep aside debris. Their body tapered into a segmented trunk with dense arrays of stubby walking limbs, giving them a caterpillar-like scuttle across terrain.

Another key adaptation was their elongated, flexible lips, which acted like soft proboscises. These lips could wrap around porous surfaces and shallow crevices, drawing out moisture, microbial film, or terraspore exudates. The lips were lined with fine cilia and enzyme-secreting cells that helped dissolve organic matter for ingestion. Despite their somewhat comical appearance, scandicimexes were graceful and deliberate climbers, and many exhibited territorial behaviors over particularly nutrient-rich climbing zones.

Captocimexis (Grabbing Bugs) was a a predatory offshoot of the scuttlebug lineage that emerged as terrestrial ecosystems on Atmos grew increasingly complex. They were ovivorous ambush predators and opportunistic carrion feeders, forming one of the earliest true predatory clades on land. 

All captocimexes shared a fundamental body plan: a dark, low-slung form with rows of long, bristle-covered limbs for creeping over moist ground, and two major frontal appendage sets. The lower set was the graspers, which were elongated, sensitive limbs ending in multiple opposable digits or clawed pads. These were their primary tools for seizing prey, probing burrows, and manipulating delicate food like soft eggs. Above them sat a hardened, chitinized pair of pincer-mandibles, which evolved from ancestral locomotor limbs but now function as crude jaws, digging tools, or weapons. 

Most species of captocimexes relied on stealth and subtle movement. They tended to operate under shadowy overhangs or along decomposing fungal matter, where egg caches were common and rotting bodies were periodically found. They stalked slowly, sometimes remaining motionless for long periods before lunging at vulnerable clusters hidden in root crevices or under fallen sporecaps. Their black or dark mottled bodies aided in camouflage, while some exhibited faint colorful spotting to confuse or attract larval prey in dim environments. While most species were exclusively ovivorous, some are scavengers, carrion feeders, and even predators, hunting scuttlebug juvenilafers. One species, Captocimexis brachychela, native to the southern tundras of Eslona, specialized in feeding on long-dead carrion. Its grasping limbs were short and stocky, built less for snatching and more for pulling apart desiccated remains. Unlike most of captocimexes, it had a partial tolerance for microbial toxins and could feed from extremely rotten sources. A specialized gut membrane allowed it to isolate digestible tissue from dangerous and indigestible meat, regurgitating what it could not digest.

One lineage of predatory scuttlebugs descended from the captocimexes, Surricaptis (Snatching Graspers), or "Snatchbugs," was a highly specialized ambush hunter that relied on lightning-fast reflexes and precision strikes to subdue its prey. The snatchbugs' agility, comparatively large size, and hunting techniques made them perhaps the most formidable predators of the late Cimexian undergrowth. 

Snatchbugs were defined by their raptorial forelimbs: long, folding arms tipped with long fingers, capable of snapping shut with sudden force. These appendages were held folded against the body when at rest, giving them a compact, stalker-like profile. At the slightest motion from nearby prey, typically juvenilafer scuttlebugs, egg clusters, or small browsers, the arms lashed outward in a rapid grab, seizing and pulling the victim toward the snatchbug's mandibles. 

Above the forelimbs, snatchbugs retained the hardened pincer-like mandibles of their captocimex ancestors, now used to tear apart struggling prey. Like many captocimexes, these mandibles developed long, sharp, chitinous protrusions, which functioned as aids in masticating their food. Their heads were wedge-shaped and highly mobile, with large eyes positioned on either side to provide a wide field of vision. In some species, these eyes evolved reflective layers that improved night vision, aiding in nocturnal hunting. 

Unlike their stealthier ancestors, many snatchbugs were also bold and territorial. Some species performed threat displays, raising and spreading their forelimbs to appear larger when confronted by competitors or would-be predators. 

Sermocimexis (Pinching Bugs), or "Shore Pincher," was a vibrant, tropics-dwelling offshoot of the scuttlebugs, adapted for life along the sun-drenched shores and humid lowland forests of Sorlona. Shore pinchers adapted oversized, claw-like forelimbs, powerful tools used for feeding, defense, and elaborate social signaling. Though unrelated to Earth’s crabs, their flattened, armored bodies, wide stance, and expressive pincers filled a similar ecological role across Atmos’s humid coastal zones and warm forested margins. 

Unlike their stealthier cousins, such as the snatchbugs, shore pinchers were bold and conspicuous. Their bodies were often bright and reflective, flashing purples, blues, and reds under the intense tropical light. These colors served multiple purposes: they warned off predators, communicated dominance or mating readiness, and helped individuals recognize others of their species.

Shore pinchers were opportunistic omnivores. They lived lives quite similar to that of the ancestral scuttlebugs, foraging along beaches and within dense terraspore thickets, feeding on decaying biomass, fruiting terramats, and slow-moving prey. Their pinching limbs were strong enough to split open armored spores or pry apart soft-bodied shelled organisms that inhabit tidal crevices. While solitary individuals were common, some species were semi-social, forming loose foraging groups or sheltering together in caves, burrows, or drifting dendriradix hollows. They relied heavily on gestural displays. A lifted pincer might signal aggression, submission, or an invitation to mate, depending on posture and color shift.

Loricatucimexis (Armored Bugs) was a clade of heavily armored, burrow-dwelling scuttlebugs that emerged during the late Cimexian Epoch. Diverging early from a basal scuttlebug lineage, loricatucimexes adopted a strategy of protection and endurance. Their most defining feature was their thick, mineralized exoskeleton, an amplification of the ancestral spinal shell inherited from their pleruplod ancestors, and the semi-rigid exoskeleton derived from their scuttlebug parents. This shell, sculpted into interlocking plates and ridged carapaces, acted as a near-impervious defense against predators, environmental stressors, and other emerging threats.

Unlike the agile captocimexes or the light-footed scandicimexes, loricatucimexes were slow-moving, deliberate creatures that rarely left the safety of their shaded tunnels. Many species dug shallow burrows beneath layers of dendriradix leaf litter, terraspore sporefall, or decaying terraspore mats. Their stout, flattened legs ended in broad claws adapted for scraping through loose soil and decaying matter, allowing them to build networks of protective nests. Their enormous forward-facing eyes dominated their heads, offering excellent low-light sensitivity, a necessary adaptation for creatures that spent most of their lives in twilight underbrush or dim burrows. 

Platisentiris (Broad Feelers) was a lineage of simplified scuttlebugs descended from the sensory-focused sentirecimexes. Commonly known as "Nibbins" for their nub-like feet, these scuttlebugs were tiny and unassuming, like dust motes across the dendriradix forest floor. Nibbins were among the smallest and most ubiquitous terrestrial 'animals' on Atmos during the Cimexian Epoch. Rarely exceeding a centimeter in length, these tiny, hard-shelled creatures were slow-moving foragers that played a critical role in breaking down organic matter across the dendriradix forest floors and terrasporal beds across Sorlona, Weslona, and Eslona. 

The group was characterized by their broad, flattened antennae, evolved from the thin, long sensory appendage of their sentirecimex ancestors. These widened antennae grew paddle-like and semi-rigid, sweeping gently through their environment to detect chemical cues, heat gradients, and minute vibrations. They were used not only for sensing but also for lightly brushing the ground in search of decaying spores, soft terraspore tissue, or scattered cyanophyte debris. 

Unlike their more specialized predecessors, platisentirs had simplified forelimbs used exclusively for foraging. They reproduced quickly, lay dozens of tiny eggs at a time (hundreds for some species), and reached maturity in just a few days to weeks. Nibbins were a major food source for carnivorous scuttlebugs, though some species evolved mild chemical defenses or bitter-tasting outer tissue as a deterrent.

Despite their tiny bodies, nibbins were stunningly diverse. Their exoskeletal shells often displayed bright, reflective hues of fiery oranges, metallic blues, and spotted purples, the result of sexual selection and predator deterrence. Some species, like Platisentiris maculata, lived in dry fungal underbrush and flashed their speckled shells as a warning to would-be predators. Others, such as Platisentiris lurida, were nearly translucent and inhabited shaded sporebeds, feeding on terraspore threads and decaying matter. A few nibbins were arboreal, clinging to the undersides of dendriradix leaves, while others burrowed shallowly into moist soils and root clusters. Platisentiris obscura gathered in dense clusters, where their vivid exoskeletal patterns blended together so completely that distinguishing individual nubbins became nearly impossible. Platisensiris elegans exhibited a bright pattern on its back, a near-perfect mimicry of the species of dendriradix catchfronds they lived among, feeding constantly on the dendriradix's reproductive organ.

Nibbins were Atmos’s tiniest, most ubiquitous land fauna. These bulbous micro-scuttlebugs carved out an astonishing array of ecological roles in nearly every terrestrial biome. Their name reflects not just their size, but also their behavior, constantly nibbling at organic material, spores, decaying matter, or microscopic flora. Some even fed on the exudates of larger scuttlebugs, living as quiet commensals in the underbrush.

Like vorms in the seas, nibbins would be ubiquitous throughout most terrestrial environments. Look closely anywhere there is life in the Cimexian Epoch and you will find nibbins, skittering between terramat threads, burrowed amongst radiculat roots, tucked beneath terraspore spore-sacs, riding windblown debris from coast to coast. 

Nanovormis (Little Vorms) was among the smallest known members of the vorm lineage, rarely exceeding a few centimeters in length. These tiny swimmers filled the sunlit shallows and upper pelagic zones of Atmos’ oceans, where they gathered in swarms numbering in the tens of thousands. They moved with a sinuous, flickering motion, using rapid undulations of their slender bodies and tails to maintain tight schooling formations. 

Despite their miniature size, nanovorms were structurally sophisticated. Their bodies were laced with an intricate network of fine, branching blood vessels that brought oxygen and nutrients to every extremity, allowing for high metabolic efficiency and constant movement. In some species, this vascular web was faintly visible through their skin, giving them a veined appearance under the right light conditions

Gracilovormis (Graceful Vorms) was a lineage of large-bodied marine filter-feeders that flourished during the late Cimexian Epoch. Though closely related to bulkier, slow-swimming gulpers, gracilovorms were notably more agile. They swam with a partial anguilliform motion, their elongated bodies, tapered and slick, draped in a soft, rubbery skin, weaving smoothly through the water, yet they retained a thick, muscular tail used for bursts of power and maneuverability in the open ocean. Some species grew as long as a shipping container and traveled in loose aggregations that followed seasonal currents. Others were solitary wanderers of the mesopelagic zones.

Dulcevormis (Sweet Vorms) was a rotund and sluggish lineage of mid-ocean grazers that drifted through the warm, nutrient-rich gyres of the Cimexian seas. They earned their name from their glossy, brown, dimpled hides, which gave them the uncanny appearance of being molded from chocolate. 

Dulcevorms resembled bloated tuna in shape, with a wide, rounded belly and short fins that fluttered inefficiently as they meandered through the water. Speed was not their strength. Instead, they relied on bulk and buoyancy, drifting slowly with currents while grazing on dense fields of microbial floc and photosynthetic plankters that bloomed near the surface. 

Candadrectis (Upright Candles) was an elegant, vertically-oriented swimmers descended from the earlier adrectastachids. Where their ancestors had relied on their tails for swimming and balance, the candadrectids transformed this feature into a luminous beacon. 

Living in the twilight and abyssal zones of Atmos’ deeper seas, they thrived in perpetual darkness. Their long, ribbonlike tails ended in pads of specialized photocytes capable of producing strong pulses of bioluminescence. These flashes were not simple flashes of light, they carried meaning. Different rhythms, intensities, and color variations served as a visual language, allowing groups of candadrectids to remain in tight social contact even in complete blackness. 

Pulmorepaxis (Lung Raptors) was an agile, omnivorous predator that patrolled the coastal shallows of between Sorlona and Eslona. Pulmorepaxes were efficient stalkers of small-bodied pleruplods, particularly the browsing centaur forms that clustered near tidal vegetation. Opportunistic in diet, they occasionally ingested mats of cyanophytes to supplement their energy needs during leaner times. 

Over the course of several million years, a lineage of their ancestors, the cheilosrepaxes, began to shadow their prey out of the water. Much as the ancient vericataurs, ancestral scuttlebugs, had followed the land-bound terraspores onto the continents, these lip raptors began to pursue centaurs onto the wet flats left behind by the retreating tide. 

The shift toward land also required changes in posture and mobility. Pulmorepaxes developed powerful front flippers, no longer just for steering but for pulling themselves over rocky or silty terrain. Their tails, once mainly used for aquatic propulsion, thickened at the base and developed rudimentary flexor muscles, helping to brace and pivot their movements as they hauled themselves along the shore. Though slow and cumbersome on land, they were patient and deliberate predators, using their lips to scoop up pleruplods and coastal scuttlebugs. 

Over millions of years, the pulmorepaxes' descendants would further refine their ability to move and breathe on land, shedding aquatic dependency almost entirely. These terrestrial descendants, known as the Uncopeds, would become the second major lineage of Atmosian fauna to colonize the surface world after the scuttlebugs.