Appearance
As the name suggests, the Moonfly is essentially a large fly. It stands about 1.4 metres tall on its rear limbs, which are significantly longer than their other four limbs — long enough to lift their abdomen at least 10 cm off the ground. Their eyes are mottled blue, red, and green, and their wings are an iridescent blue. The rest of the exoskeleton is iridescent green, though on the thorax it is covered in coarse black hair. (For greater support, the Moonfly actually has an endoskeleton as well.)
Life Cycle
Eggs
Like insects, the moonfly lays a large number of eggs. Most of these get eaten (by snakes and lizards), and on average maybe five or six hatch each year.
Child
Childhood for a moonfly is quite short: only one year (372 days, at 30 hours per day). During this time they are taught about life and feed on lizards (the same ones that eat their eggs) and grass.
Adult
An adult moonfly is in its prime between the age of one and three years. During this time it joins the annual hunt.
Elderly
The elderly moonflies play a greater role in teaching, and sometimes stay behind on the annual hunt. A moonfly can live for up to six years before they die. A rare few have been known to live a bit longer.
Death
The dead are unceremoniously dumped into the sea, where they get eaten by sharks or cetaceans.
Diet
For most of the year, moonflies feed on lizards and grass. However, once per year they hunt moon mice.
Powers/Abilities
Moonflies don’t really have any special powers.
Society and Culture
Once per year, all moonflies in their prime, both male and female, embark on a major hunt; they fly up to the moon and hunt the Moon Mice that live there. The mating directly follows this hunt, and eggs are laid several days later. The rest of the year is spent waiting for them to hatch, then teaching the young ones all they need to know.
They are intelligent, but not highly so; they do pass the mirror test, at least. They are also helpful to outsiders, though if provoked they will aggresssively defend their young even to the death if necessary.
Brief History
This is one of the whimsical races created by •••••••••• to populate the world of Sarlassia (note: Sarlassia is also a continent in that world). They served two purposes: one, to keep the population of Moon Mice in check, since no other creatures live on the moon; two, to guide travellers since the Isle of Ships is where most new arrivals to Sarlassia appear.
Ever since their introduction, they have lived peacefully on the Isle of Ships, and their population has remained stable in the mere hundreds. Thus they are counted as a major success. (There are rumours of a second population in the untamed wilds of the continent of Draconia. However, the dragons have declined to comment on the truth of this rumour.)