Love envoys are insects that resemble a moth in appearance.
Love envoys move by crawling or flying. They have four wings in two pairs. In this respect, they are an ordinary insect, since all insects have four wings in two pairs. - Although it is a gross oversimplification to put it this way, but even insects that have more or fewer wings on the outside always have at least four wing tips. The actual wings are often differently developed. In dipterans, such as flies or mosquitoes, the rear pair of wings is reduced to convoluted structures that help the insect to stabilize its flight. In some beetle species, the front wings are hard shells, while the actually utilized hind wings are protected underneath. In some insects, such as some ants, fleas or some types of beetles, the wings are completely reduced and are only present at the base. In scale winged insects, such as butterflies, the wings are often fused together. There is a lot of variance in terms of the development, but in the end all insects have four wings in two pairs.
Two of the four wings of insects move synchronously. However, there are exceptions to this, in particular dragonflies, which can move their wings independently of each other. Dragonflies therefore have a very high degree of maneuverability and can move precisely even in windy conditions. They are special in many ways. They are among the fastest fliers of all insects. Some species move at speeds of up to 70 km/h. They can hover on the spot. They have 360-degree vision and always have their prey in sight. Dragonflies are hunters after all.
Although love envoys look more like a moth, they do have similarities to dragonflies. Unlike a moth, the wings of the love envoy are not fused together, but are separated as with a dragonfly. Like dragonflies, they can move their wings independently of each other, hover on the spot and are fast and agile. However, unlike dragonflies, their wings are less flexible and not fully transparent. The forewings are stiffer than the hindwings and are a solid green color. The hindwings are semi-transparent and reddish and come closer to those of a dragonfly.
There are other similarities between love envoys and dragonflies, although not to present-day ones. Today's dragonflies have very limited head movement, but it is assumed that their ancestors still had a head that could be moved with greater independence from the rest of the body. This enabled them to keep their head still in flight and thus keep their prey in view at all times. Since dragonflies also have an all-round vision, the ability to move their head to this extent was certainly not absolutely necessary for them and has regressed. A love envoy still has a very mobile head today, only the usage is different... Unusually, the wings of a love enovy are on the head part of the body. The point is to keep the other part of the body steady in flight, or rather to direct it towards the prey without hindering the flight.
Love enovys are bloodsuckers and for that reason they have a stinger, but they are fundamentally different from mosquitoes, for example. Mosquitoes do not feed on blood. Mosquitoes feed on plant juices and flower nectar. Only female mosquitoes suck blood because they need the protein from the blood, after fertilization, to produce eggs and because sucking blood is an efficient way to obtain protein. The love envoy also needs the blood for this, but it also feeds on the blood.
The stinger protrudes from its torso. It is fine, hard and hollow and resembles an infusion needle. It can be extended. It is pressed out of the body using muscle power. Its entire length is almost as long as the rest of the body. For the attack, a love envoy takes a dive. Its wings are folded far back and only move in a small radius for propulsion. The sting is slightly extended. The sight is reminiscent of a dart. For this type of attack, the wings are on the head part of the messenger of love.
They come in a dive, sting and suck. A love envoy flies horizontally at up to 80km/h. They are therefore faster than most birds. In a dive they can reach speeds of up to 120km/h. Nevertheless, the sting hardly hurts. Unlike mosquitoes, it will not be as clearly visible afterwards either. Mosquitoes inject some of their saliva into their victim when they bite so that the blood does not coagulate and is easier to suck out. The body recognizes the saliva as foreign and reacts allergically to it. The love envoy does not do this because it takes time.
As you can imagine, the bloodsucking of a love enovoy does not go unnoticed as easily as that of a mosquito. Compared to other insects, they are large and noisy. They are brightly colored and come buzzing in. The beings they prefer to feed on are mainly large mammals. They are also beings that are of little interest to mosquitoes due to their thick skin, such as elephants. They are mammals because they have a constant body temperature and nutrient-rich blood. They are large mammals, as they do not always detect the attack and are usually unable to defend themselves.
An elephant cannot defend itself, because love enovys are fast at everything. A mosquito looks for a good spot on its victim, makes itself comfortable and sucks for minutes if it is not disturbed. A love enovy comes in a dive, stings, sucks for a second, then flees again. Then it comes again, and as often as it needs to.
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Love envoys live in tropical to temperate climates. Whether they are nocturnal or diurnal depends on the temperature. They are most active at temperatures around 20 degrees celsius. They spend their inactive time lurking half-awake in trees or bushes. They are well hidden. Their body has a red color like fruit. Their forewings are green and resemble leaves. Their legs are elastic, brownish and wrap around branches like slings. All wings are stretched backwards when lurking and the forewings cover the hindwings and the rest of the body. In this posture they are almost impossible to spot. When temperatures fall below 10 degrees celsius, they, as well as many scale winged insects, look for a sheltered place to spend the winter. These are often places such as abandoned buildings or attics of inhabited buildings.
Due to their camouflage, their size and their distinctive flying abilities, love envoys have hardly any natural enemies. The only significant ones are individual bird species that are fast enough and specialize in catching large insects from the air, such as certain swifts, monarchs or tyrants.
Love envoys are demons. They have black blood and black mana, yet there is no known case of a specimen ever using magic. Presumably they are unable to.
Love messengers might be demons, but they have a cute appearance and their bloodsucking often has no consequences, but you should not make the mistake of thinking they are harmless.
Mosquitoes lay their eggs in water. When the larvae hatch, they are already capable of surviving on their own. That is ... when they hatch. But very few eggs hatch. Very few mosquitoes live long. The love envoy has a different tactic. Love envoys not only steal blood, but also sperm from mammals. They use it to fertilize females of the same species that are receptive to mating. They do this by injecting it directly into the uterus of a victim via their stinger.
They do not do this at random. They use their antennae to detect temperatures on contact and odors in the air. They recognize different smells of various beings and thus find females of many species that are ready to mate. Their honeycomb eyes are specialized for looking inside bodies. It is not clear what they see, but they have been shown to see heat radiation and light polarization. Not only can they find veins with great accuracy, they can even find eggs ready for conception inside a body.
A love envoy has a success rate of over 60% in fertilizing females. However, this forced fertilization can also result in an increased likelihood of an ectopic pregnancy. This means that the fallopian tubes may rupture, resulting in life-threatening internal bleeding. If the fertilization was successful and without complications, a normal foetus of the species grows in the victim from sperm and egg, but together with it also 2-3 messengers of love.
The love envoy uses the collected sperm to transfer its own eggs into the placenta of a surrogate mother. Love envoys have no larval stage and no pupation. They grow directly into their final form. In the uterus, they feed on the surrogate mother's blood and also obtain their oxygen from it. The actual fetus of the surrogate mother remains atrophied. After 3 months they are the size of the palm of a hand, then they leave the body of their surrogate mother. The fetus dies in the process. The surrogate mother herself remains unharmed.
The love envoys are not yet fully grown. Their cute appearance is so that they are not killed by their surrogate mother and, in the best case, so that she thinks they are her own children. If she does, they stay with her. They cannot be suckled by her. They have no mouth opening. If the mother wants to suckle them, or even if she does not offer, they will instinctively suck her blood with their stingers. It is unclear whether the love envoys consider their surrogate mother to be their real mother. They may leave her after 1-2 more months, but not necessarily forever. Love envoys are more intelligent than insects and are more on the level of a cat. They recognize emotions and when someone is well-disposed towards them. They may return after finding a partner to continue feeding on their surrogate mother or to use her as a surrogate mother for their own offspring.
Love envoys are considered a category 1 pest and sightings must be reported. In many countries, depending on your profession, you are also obliged to kill a specimen on sighting.
Perhaps you think this is an overkill? Perhaps you still think they are relatively harmless?
Imagine the following scenario: You are walking along a country lane. Suddenly you hear a deafening rustling sound and a treetop comes towards you with the wind. You run for your life, but the leaves are faster. It turns black. You can no longer see anything. All you hear is the rustling of leaves, then nothing anymore.
Love envoys reproduce without a partner if they cannot find one. A single specimen can become a population of several thousand within a year.
Love Envoys live in swarms of nearly unlimited size. A single specimen is prey and disguises itself as a leaf, but such a swarm is a hunter and disguises itself as a treetop.
An adult love envoy consumes up to 60 milliliters of blood per day. A swarm of a thousand specimens thus already consumes 60 liters. They will not remain just a thousand for long.
Love Envoys are dangerous. There is nowhere to hide. They see body heat and smell blood. Running away is useless. They fly at 80km/h. Clothing does not protect. The stinger is too hard and too long. Metal armor protects, but they can see where it does not. A sword kills only a couple. A flamethrower might hit many, but their fur burns out quickly. The safest thing to do is to plunge into water and pray that they move on before you run out of air.
Love envoys are demons. If you find one, you should do everything you can to kill it, otherwise it will not be the last you see.