The Talikra is a large, winged insect native to the Eastern Equatorial Section of the Habitual Belt and the Ralar Region of the Dark Side on VOI 700 D.

These agile creatures rely on their powerful hind legs to make rapid, evasive jumps, allowing them to escape from swift predators like the Korozo, the Naka Tula, and the Zapor. Despite their ability to fly, Talikra prefer staying close to the ground and only take to the air when migrating or searching for breeding grounds.

Talikra are highly dependent on Luminofera Dualis mushrooms for both sustenance and reproduction. This close relationship makes them vital pollinators for the glowing fungi but also renders them predictable prey, as predators have learned to track them near mushroom colonies.

During the Gamma Age, exohuman scientists bioengineered a synthetic version of the pheromone secreted by Talikra larvae, allowing them to artificially stimulate Luminofera Dualis growth along the Trade Route on the Dark Side.

Talikra feed mainly on and breed near Luminofera dualis. This glowing mushroom is very high-caloric for Talikra larvae with their efficient digestive system. In their reproductive stage, adult Talikra eat their way inside the big mushrooms or through their mycelium in the ground, and lay their egg sacs there.

Migrating from mushroom to mushroom, Talikra play an important role in disseminating their spores. They also stimulate their growth via a special pheromone: When hatching, the larvae emit a messenger substance into the soil that prompts the mycelium to build new sporocarps (fruiting bodies).

This mechanism has been utilised by the Humans in the Gamma Age to establish colonies of Luminofera dualis along the southeastern section of Trade Route on the Dark Side of VOI 700 D. After harvesting the substance from young Talikra and examining it, humans have managed to bioengineer the substance in a lab.

Talikra usually stay on, or for safety reasons preferably in, the ground. They only fly when they need to cover long distances, e.g. when looking for an adequate breeding ground. Because they are so closely dependent on Luminofera dualis, Talikra aren't usually found too far away from them. On the Dark Side, the warmth of Luminofera dualis keeps the insects close by, as they cannot survive for a very long time at temperatures below 15 degrees Celsius.

Their dependency on Luminofera dualis makes Talikra predictable, and thus easy prey, for clever predators like Korozo. With their keen noses Korozo can smell the insects from afar. Talikra are especially vulnerable when leaving or entering a mushroom tunnel. In this brief moment of disorientation and reduced mobility, they can be grabbed easily.

The wildlife of the Eastern Equatorial Section of the Habitual Belt

The wildlife of the Dark Side from A to Z