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To anyone who may read this journal, my name is Doctor Yveer Orycteropus, xenobiology specialist and accused naturalist by my incredibly jealous colleagues at Fafnir Memorial University. Contrary to the spurious claims thrown my way, I am in fact not a xenophile, but rather a true dwarf who researches the alien scum of the galaxy so that our glorious brethren can better fight them. I'm an accomplished miner myself, having gone into university on funding from DRG and a former Scout, so rest assured, I understand the dangers of mining on alien worlds. However, I also acknowledge the dangers of our work, so I am keeping two journals, one for my scholarly work, and another for the laymen who may need assistance going forward. If you find this posthumously, please publish it on your miner's forum of choice. Naturally, I'd prefer to publish it myself, but sometimes we head to Valhalla earlier than expected. Tis the way of things. I'll make sure to save you boys a beer.
GLYPHIDS
As one would expect, my first introduction to the creatures of Hoxxes were the Glyphids which infest seemingly every nook and cranny. They are very large arthropods with individuals ranging in size from corgi to double-decker bus, with a very clear hive organization. My first instinct is to compare them to ants or termites, albeit on a comically large scale. As it is, they seem to have similar divisions of work. Grunts are various forms of common worker and soldiers with minor specializations among them (such as the Slashers and Guards). Praetorians and Dreadnaughts are analogous to majors and super-majors, respectively. Acid Spitters and Menaces seem to be specialized digging variants that also have remarkable projectile spitting capabilities. Web throwers are prey catchers for the hive. Wardens are a remarkably capable breed of soldier-assistant. Swarmers are simply young semi-larval workers. However I'm truly perplexed by the explosive varieties, as while they could be explained as a type of soldier, their volatility seems a liability. My current hypothesis is that they are symptomatic of a fungal or plant-based infection in the hive, but I require samples to better test this, which is... problematic.
Their adaptability is remarkable, capable of existing in a range of temperatures that would cripple humans (much less those leaf-loving slime) as well as exhibiting remarkable resistance to radiation. It's probable that most of the caves our miners dig in aren't entirely natural, partially excavated by Gylphids, and as such most of our work is done within their hive chambers. I'm curious as to how the ranged varieties see, actually, as while vibrations can explain most of the Glyphid workers, the accuracy of the spitters is downright incredible. I'm low on theories, maybe pheromones secreted by other soldiers? What I can say without question is that they have many symbiotic relationships with the others species of the planet, beyond the defensive association with most of the other hostile wildlife. For example, the Brood Nexus is clearly a species of simple anemone-analogous creature which serves as a nest for their young in exchange for food. The most amazing part of the Glyphid, however, is the presence of metal within their shells, which implies that they have some method of ingesting and processing things like iron on a level we couldn't imagine! Obviously, Praetorians and Dreadnaughts are significantly more resource intensive (both in metals and protein) than grunts, and typically their production imply either a surplus of resources and/or an imminent threat that the hive needs to fight off... such as our intrepid miners.
The thing I find most alarming, however, is the fact that we have yet to see males or breeding females among their numbers. I see three posibilities here. The first is the simplest: we have yet to dig deep enough to find a queen, the males stay near her, and the eggs we see are carried into position by workers. The second is that one of the varieties we see are males (Menaces or Wardens would be my first guesses) and at least one of the varieties we see are fertile (Dreadnaughts most likely). The third, however, is my personal favorite hypothesis: Praetorians are near-queen females capable of limited breeding, but the Dreadnaughts are larval forms of true queens which have not quite reached their full potential. It would certainly explain the level of resources the Dreadnaughts consume and why the hive is willing to funnel so much into a single creature. Regardless, identifying what/where the queens are should be a priority for DRG, so that we can excise this plague of aliens at the source.
So, what should the common dwarf take from this analysis? Simply put, we are dealing with a hive with many working parts and anything we can do to disrupt its routine and capabilities should be a priority, so that future mining expeditions are easier. Removing eggs, killing resource-intensive Dreadnaughts and Praetorians, excising valuable minerals from their caves, all would be welcome in order to cripple the aliens. Remember, their ability to recover will be finite. Eventually, we can break the hives, we just need to rip through their resources until they are no longer capable of producing their most dangerous members, at which point we will be able to operate on Hoxxes relatively unmolested. Rock and Stone, brothers!
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