This is information about a fictional insect on the Mouse Dragon planet, Golso.

Nymphs will immediately seek out trees
to climb and feed from after hatching. They will feed
constantly for a year, remaining camouflaged
between the branches in the forest. Over time,
they will grow fleshy leaflike growths on
the tip of their abdomen.

After feeding, nymphs will traverse the ground or
between trees until it finds a suitable spot, whereupon
they will burrow into the ground leaving a few segments
of its abdomen sticking vertically into the air, mimicking a tree sapling.
In this sedentary state, they will rely on their photosynthetic
'leaves' and nearby tree root systems to grow. This is
the longest life stage; treebugs can spend up to a century
as tree mimics. As they grow, 'leaves' eventually cover
the entire abdomen and their middle and hind legs will
eventually poke out of the ground.

Adults spend their time meandering the forests, occasionally
grazing the treetops. The leaves on their abdomen are shed in favor of dorsal leaves.
These leaves are still photosynthetic and can act as food stores for the winter months.
Sedentary treebugs aggregate into certain "hotspots" and produce a pheromone
that drives adults away, so accidental conspecific consumption is rare.

Treebug mating season lasts between the spring and summer. Eggs are laid in the summer/fall of the next year where they will overwinter and hatch in the coming spring. Females lay a maximum of forty eggs every two years.

Image Text: Outliers in the pseudophasmid order, treebugs are towering organisms that wander Golso's expansive forests. The eat leaves off the treetops below them. Their steps till the soil & their bodies provide shade & shelter for climbing/flying organisms.

MDs* rely on most lifestages of the treebug (all excet the nymphal stage). They use the eggs as containers like with any other pseudophasmid egg, eat the new flush of "pupal" leaves, & harvest adult feces for fertilizer. Some MDs have created communities in the leaves of adults but those are small and not sustainable (treebug adult lifespan is only about 10 years).

Some MDs will eat the developing nymph in the egg, but is considered an "acquired taste".


*Only MDs that reside within the forests or forests' edge.