Maybe you heard about the Parasprite infestations in Ponyville and Fillydelphia sometime ago... Well, I cannot tell you how to deal with the bigger swarms, at least not directly... Heck, these creatures shouldn't be swarming like that! It's not their natural behaviour by far. They're not the most typical creatures of Everfree, but I still know that a sudden excess of food with no predator or parasite around to reduce their amounts will lead to massive overabundance. And to crown it, mutate the whole with magic and then quickly dispose of them in the Forest! Because nothing can't go wrong here, right?

I apologize for this little tantrum, certain events are still just too fresh in my memory...

Parasprites

As I mentioned, these are not exactly typical inhabitants of the Forest. Their favourite biotopes are rocky areas and drier marshlands, making them common on western rock farms and some parts of Zebrica, where they caused quite a few problems in the past, including large famines.

It might seem unbelievable, but actually these "pests" are mutualists of many creatures such as Cragadiles or Hydras. The latter only when there is a lack of Cragadiles. Parasprites are the only ones with sufficiently long tongue--or sufficiently shaped hypopharynx? Probably yes, should we think of them as of arthropods--and also only creatures "willing" to use them for the purpose of licking their hosts' teeth clean of any leftovers.

They make use of their big eyes and slow fluttering moves that serve after decades of co-evolution as the signal for the host to open up its maw for the cleaning. They are then allowed to fly in and feast. However, the Cragadiles aren't vitally dependent on the scraps removal and this leads to them sometimes "forgetting" to keep their jaws open, resulting in squishing or piercing their little helpers. My most probable guess is that when they spot possible prey, their instinct to hide and lie in wait is stronger than the relationship with the cleaners.

The Parasprites have managed to form their own tactic of surviving these "accidents". Their reactions aren't swift enough, not even close to that. Their exoskeleton isn't durable enough to survive the force of jaws, in some cases combined with the more than sharp teeth, though it at least protects them from getting squeezed lethally immediately. When they couldn't save themselves as "themselves themselves", they found another way. They could split up in two. Or, better said, they can spit out their clone. I must admit, these creatures have probably the fastest asexual reproduction among multicellular creatures. Their metabolism has to be rendered extremely fast for this to work, probably leading to the small and scattered populations under normal conditions of food availability.

But back to the original problem, the asexual reproduction is triggered by any of these three factors: the Parasprite recently ate something, pressure against the exoskeleton increased or the daylight dimmed suddenly--because creatures usually don't have a light bulb inside their maw. When a Parasprite gets trapped, one of these is surely present too. The next step is to spit out their "heir". Now there are two possible scenarios.

First: The Parasprite was facing out of a Cragadile's mouth. The clone is propelled outdoors, forming immediately and happily flying away.

Second: The Parasprite was facing the inside of a Cragadile's mouth. Then it can only hope that many others suffered the same fate. They began spitting out their clones, with the clones doing the same due to the conditions inside. If there is enough of them, their bodies will open the mouth a crack, allowing a few to slip out.

Said clones may have different colour than the parental creature, reasons for this phenomenon remain unclear, though it is possible that it is caused by exogenous factors such as temperature or moisture during their spawn.

It may seem that Parasprites don't have sexual reproduction. It happens on a rare occasion when there is extreme lack of food or the species is under any other generally stressful conditions. The Parasprites swarm together and the mating can began. They tuck themselves tighter and tighter to the center of the swarm, in the end creating a ball on the ground for a few hours. Immediately after the mating ends and the males die, the females dart off--probably their fastest motion I was able to observe--to look for a smaller hole in the ground to lay just one egg and to find a stone to cover it up with. The females then die too.

The hatched one is able to muster enough power to move away the stone far more heavier than itself. They then climb up on the stone and wait till their wings straighten and dry to be able to fly away.

Given the limited amount of energy that can be stored within their bodies, it would be a suicide for them to fly around, randomly looking for someone in need of their dental care. And staying close to the Cragadiles in the swamp? Thinking about their slow moves and the amount of frogs living here... they'd have soon become extintc.

No, instead they learned to get called by their host, letting their course be defined by the very same signal Timberwolves deem a warning. The clapping of jaws is Cragadiles' common communication, a very complex system of claps, teeth screeching together and air whizzing between them. The rhythmic nature of these sounds draws Parasprite's attention, leaving them in some sort of trance, following it. Surprisingly they usually survive this trip and once close enough, they propose their service as described above.

Furthermore, it looks like they react similarly to rhythmical sounds resembling the Cragadile communication, be it a creaking broken branch and a woodpecker in the middle of work in the same place, or an orchestra's performance.